File photo of a worried woman
Dear GhanaWeb,
I’m writing to seek advice on a complicated situation involving my son and a young woman he got pregnant.
The girl is 20 years old, and while her parents are understandably upset, I don’t believe all the blame should be placed solely on my son.
My son just turned 22 last month. They are both coursemates at the university. The girl is quite petite, while my son is tall and mature-looking, which I believe may have influenced her judgment.
Her parents have insisted she keep the baby, and her mother has made it clear that abortion is not an option in their family, which I actually respect. I wouldn’t want my daughter to go through that either.
The issue now is that her mother is making demands that we find unreasonable. She wants her daughter to live with her throughout the pregnancy and continue attending lectures until delivery.
Meanwhile, she’s also demanding that my son drop out of school because, according to her, her daughter will have to drop out too.
She’s asking us to pay GH₵7,000 monthly, increasing it to GH₵10,000 when the girl is due. While we can technically afford it, it feels excessive.
My husband and I even suggested that the girl come live with us so we can take proper care of her and support her through school, but the mother refused.
She visited our home recently and saw the cars and house we live in, and ever since then, her attitude has changed.
It’s clear she thinks this is an opportunity to benefit from our financial situation. She even refused to negotiate the allowance, insisting on the full amount and the school dropout condition.
We’ve explained that our son cannot afford to drop out, as he needs his degree to begin working in our family business and take on responsibilities.
Still, she’s threatening that if we don’t comply, she will take her daughter away and we will never see the baby.
We have no issue taking care of the girl and supporting her education through graduation.
We’ve even said that if the two still love each other after the baby is born, we’ll support them getting married. But the girl’s mother insists on doing things her way and appears more interested in our money than what’s best for the kids.
We want to be involved in the baby’s life and provide support, but we’re not comfortable being exploited just because our children made a mistake.
At this point, we feel stuck and uncertain about the best course of action.
What would you advise? These are two young people, and the decisions made now will impact their futures. We want to do the right thing without being taken advantage of.
FG/EB
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