My boyfriend got me pregnant and dumped me at 19

Aisha Wanjiku, 25, is the bubbly co-host behind KTN’s lifestyle show. However, behind that smile, is a few years of suffering after she became pregnant at 19. Her then boyfriend abandoned her and rushed back to his ex’s arms.

You became pregnant at such a young age. What exactly happened?

Let me start by saying, my child, Lamar Munene, is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love him to bits. He has changed my life. He is a model and currently, City Walk’s brand ambassador. I conceived when I was in campus and learnt I was pregnant two months later.

You must have been shocked, right?

Of course, I was. I called my mother and broke the news. She was really heartbroken. Being a Muslim, pregnancy out of wedlock is frowned upon. It is considered a shame to the family. My mother cried a lot. She asked me to transfer my credentials from Multi Media University to Mombasa Polytechnic. Things got worse in school because students used to tease me a lot. I even fell into depression in my first trimester.

What about your baby daddy?

Well, he told me to make a decision and let him know what I decide. That’s when it hit me that I was all by myself. In fact, he stopped talking to me and re-kindled his relationship with his ex-girlfriend. It was so painful watching him holding hands with her and avoiding me, yet we used to spend so much time together. I was in a pathetic state.

You mentioned you suffered from depression. What exactly was going on?

I stopped eating. I didn’t care about anything. My mother warned me that if I stopped eating, my baby would be underweight and I would get postpartum depression. I had to snap out of it. I received a lot of counselling from one of the lecturers at school. I also stopped caring what people said behind my back.

How was the delivery?

I was lucky to have given birth just when I was a year away from graduating. I stayed home for three months and in 2011, I went back to school and did all the exams I had missed. I stayed in Mombasa until I finished school and by then, my son was a year and some months old. My relationship with my mother was really deteriorating and so I decided to leave her house.

What was the beef about?

We couldn’t agree on parenting. My mother still treated me like a child. I decided to come to Nairobi to look for opportunities because money was our main source of conflict.  I remember the day I left. I woke up and packed and when she came back from work, I told her I was leaving.

Did you have a place in mind?

A friend from college told me she could help me secure a job. I didn’t even ask her what the job was. I just moved out and later discovered it was an editing job. My boss said he could not afford to pay me, but at least he paid my rent. I was sharing a two-bedroom house with my friend in Kikuyu. By the time the boss decided to pay me, I had gotten another job as a correspondent for a local media house. At least I could now manage to pay my own bills. My friend moved out and left me in the house. I managed alone for a while but after two months, things got dicey since my job wasn’t paying that well. I was almost thrown out of the house.

You mentioned that your son is a model. How did he land the job?

The week before the landlord threatened to evict me, my son had auditioned for Huggies diapers advert. That morning, I was called and informed that my son had been picked for the advert. When we got there, we were paid Sh50,000 as down payment. That was a lot considering I had nothing. Things began opening up and at around the same time, I got picked for a Safaricom advert, with the contract being renewed for two years. That’s how I survived and managed to pay for my son’s school fees. By now, my son was also a full-time model.

How did you end up as a lifestyle host at KTN?

I kept auditioning until I was successful. Before then, I had co-hosted a show on Homeboyz Radio alongside DJ Kaytrixx. Even when I was broke, I made sure I was out there. Being very active on social media also helped me a lot since I also made money as a social media influencer.

What are your future plans?

I want to start a foundation for single mothers. I have walked in their shoes at a very young age and I want them to know that they are not alone.

How is your relationship  with your baby daddy?

It’s cordial for the sake of my son. I have since moved on and I’m dating a Danish man. He is very nice to me and my son.

How about your mother?                     

My mother is very proud of me. Actually, when I came to Nairobi the first time, she sent me a bed by courier services and later visited me. She even sent me money every now and then till I got on my feet. We are buddies.