The modern day Nigerian unmarried women are becoming single mothers by choice. Though the trend is not new, attitudes toward this phenomenon and methods to motherhood are beginning to change.
The expected social order when it comes to having children is
- First comes love;
- Then comes marriage;
- Then comes baby.
However, with many women in our society being unmarried into their thirties and forties, the number of children being born and raised by single mothers is on the increase. The days of women living out their lives as the childless “maiden aunties”, or getting married to the wrong guy for a brief period of time to conform to societal norms are over.
The truth is that most women do want to be mothers, and motherhood never was ruled out by a career or an education. Education or careers are not impediments to being a mother.
When women are running out of time due to their biological clock and have not found their partner, more and more of them are choosing to have children on their own.
Society seems to have decided that it is OK to give birth without being married. We must be appreciative of this situation of the acceptance of single mothers in the society however, this status come with its challenges.
In part two of this article next week, we look at – The Challenges of Being a Single Mother.