The Silent Trial: My Womb, Their verdict.
- Aishatu Sali
- Apr 7, 2025
- 3 min read
They whisper when I walk by. They lower their voices, but I hear them.
“She must have removed them before marriage.”
“She lived recklessly, this is her punishment.”
“A woman like that? God is teaching her a lesson.”
Their words, sharp as knives, slice through me turning my body into a crime scene, my womb into a courtroom where I stand trial every single day.
Guilty without evidence.
Guilty, because I am a woman without a child.
But what about the man?
The one who walked away untouched by shame?
The one with a low sperm count, who has never once stepped into a clinic for a medical test?
The only child of his parents, even after his father married several wives?
The one who lived as he pleased,
yet was still given a wife, a home, and applause?
Why must a woman always bear the weight of a burden that takes two?
Why must she be broken while he walks free, praised for the same fire that burns her alive?
My in-laws pretend to be kind, but their kindness tastes like poison.
“Try this herb; it worked for my cousin.”
“Maybe you should fast more… pray harder.”
“Are you sure you have never…?”
The question hangs in the air unspoken, but loud enough to drown me.
And society?
They never stop with the judgment.
A woman without a child is seen as a woman without worth.
She is pitied.
She is mocked.
She is tested, questioned, and inspected like a faulty product that should be returned.
But let’s speak the truth:
Infertility is not a woman’s curse.
It is a medical condition and it can affect men just as much as women.
In fact, studies show that in nearly 50% of infertility cases, male factors are either the cause or a contributing issue.
So why is the silence always golden around him while she is stoned with suspicion?
This cruelty must stop.
Because a woman’s worth is not tied to her womb.
Because her past is not a punishment, nor a reference point for her fate.
Because motherhood is not the only definition of womanhood.
Because a woman is not the only one to blame.
I will not break beneath their cruel judgment.
I will not beg for love and understanding that comes with conditions.
I will not carry a shame that was never mine to bear.
If I am to be tested, let it be by God—not by a society that sins freely and sleeps soundly.
If I am to be judged, let it not be by those who rewrite the rules only to crucify women.
If I am to be judged, let it not be by men whose egos blind them to the truth.
This body is mine.
This life is mine.
And one day, God will bless me with a child when the time is ripe. But until then,
I refuse to live by your unsolicited opinions.
~boddobodes
Aishatu Sali
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