Waje Gets Real About Getting Pregnant At 16, Rejection And Single Motherhood Experience
Nigerian music artiste, Aituaje Iruobe, popularly known as Waje, has opened up about her early pregnancy and the challenges she faced as a teenage mother.
Speaking in an episode of the Honest Brunch podcast, the yummy mummy revealed that she got pregnant at 16 and hid it from her mother for about five months.
When her mom eventually found out, she went to meet the man’s family — but things didn’t go as expected, he denied being responsible for her pregnancy.
She said,
“I was 16. I didn’t tell my mom till about five months. My mom had gone to his family and said, okay, so your son and my daughter… and he was like, no, it’s not him.”
She added that her mother eventually took full responsibility, noting that under Igbo custom, a child born out of wedlock is automatically taken by the woman’s family. She continued:
“In Igbo land, when a child is born out of wedlock, the family automatically adopts the child. So my mom just told him, ‘Okay, since it’s not you, the child is mine now.’”
Waje shared that years later, the man resurfaced, saying he wanted to reconnect with his daughter, who was now older. Though she initially resisted, she eventually agreed — but with conditions.
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She added that he claimed to be living in Canada at the time. Waje said,
“I had always said that my daughter would get the best education that I can afford. So I told him, you are a citizen, fight for your child.”
She disclosed that discussions later shifted to doing a DNA test, but the man did not follow through. She said,
“He asked me to send him her hair. I said no, that is not how it is done. We will choose the place. And I waited and waited and I never heard from him. Nine months passed, then years, and he still didn’t do it.”
She added that the prolonged delay affected immigration possibilities. By the time her daughter turned 18, it was too late for him to file for her. Waje said,
“She turned 18 and you can’t file for a child at 18.”
According to Waje, she eventually enrolled her daughter in Middlesex University and paid fees in dollars to ensure she got the education she always wanted for her.
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“I was mad,” Waje admitted. “Because now she’s in university and I’m paying school fees in dollars. You can’t be calling me to say you want to send $200. We could have avoided all this.”
She added,
“Many times when fathers or mothers are protecting their child, it’s because you already know that this person is not stable. This person can come and destabilise the life of the child.”
The singer added that her main focus has always been her daughter’s well-being and giving her the best opportunities in life.