After three years in marriage with my husband Henry, he got involved in an accident. After his recovery, the doctor told me that my husband could no longer impregnate me because something had gone wrong.

I requested the doctor not to tell my husband about this to save him from depression. Good enough, we already had a son who was two years.

Years passed and “we were blessed” with three beautiful daughters, but this did not stop Henry from getting himself another woman who had been his longtime “side chic.” However, as time went by, she was not getting pregnant.

Henry had married Jennifer with this mentality and African myth of, “A man cannot have children from one woman. What if they all be stupid like their mother?”

Jennifer was a young girl who was supposed to conceive. She also believed that she was fertile and able to have a baby.

The two decided to go for medical tests. It was proven that Henry was the problem since he was sterile. He wondered how then, he was able to have children with me.

At this point, he took all our four children for a DNA test without my knowledge. On receiving the results, only Timothy matched Henry’s genes, which means, Timothy was his only biology child. Tracy, Trinah and Tamara were the children I gave him to save him from shame.

From their “outing,” he came home bitter and threw me out with my three daughters while uttering insults at me and calling my daughters bastards. I did not know where to go! Good enough, I had a job, and as a working woman, I rented an apartment.

He banned Timothy from either visiting or asking about me and his sisters. My co-wife moved into my matrimonial home.

After two months, I gathered the courage to face my fears. I called up his sister Betty who had kept checking on me wondering how a God-fearing woman like me would do that to her brother. However, she never judged me harshly like the rest of his family.

I took Betty to the doctor who had treated Henry when he got the accident. I begged her to make sure she brings Henry to the meeting. He got annoyed to see me there but the two convinced him to stay and listen to what I had to say.

I told him that after his accident, he became sterile and I could not bear to see my husband go through that turmoil. I also narrated to him how I had agreed with Dr. Nabaasa to keep it a secret from him.

I revealed to him how our three daughters were as a result of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), and that I had never cheated on him.

In amusement Betty said, “So you and your innocent wife, who broke the, for better for worse vow? You went ahead and married another woman, Patricia kept quiet. She kept your impotence a secret to save you from shame.”

My husband cried and asked for my forgiveness. We went back to our home with our three daughters and Jennifer my co-wife was then thrown out. We went back to the happy family that we were before.

My cry and appeal to men, is to please keep away from this DNA trend because it will break your homes. Let us embrace the African understanding of a family like our fore fathers did.