The East African
Thursday January 14 2021
Summary
Akeyo recounts the numerous fertility doctor visits, painful procedures, the pain and trauma that comes with stillbirths and miscarriages, the stigma and irritating in-laws.
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Like most African women, when Akeyo gets married she is expected to give birth to children in order to crown the marriage. But it soon emerges that she can't conceive, which strains and nearly breaks up their childless 15-year-old marriage. What starts as a happy marriage soon turns into a source of misery, mistrust and violence.
In Sheila Ajok Lubangakene’s 2019 debut novel titled
Still a Mum, Akeyo recounts the numerous fertility doctor visits, painful procedures, the pain and trauma that comes with stillbirths and miscarriages, the stigma, irritating in-laws and other infertility challenges in an African society where childbearing is considered one of the main expectations of marriage.