By Hon. Rufus Alele Ccfr_
alelerufus@gmail.com
08036451256
It has been barely six hours since my wife gave birth to our precious baby boy. As I sit quietly in the hospital, watching my wife rest and looking at the miracle sleeping beside her, tears continue to roll down my face. These are not tears of pain. They are tears of gratitude. For the first time in fourteen years, I am holding my own child in my arms. For the first time in fourteen years, I have heard the cry of a baby that belongs to my wife and me. For the first time in fourteen years, our long journey of waiting has become a living testimony.
Even now, it still feels like a dream. I keep looking at my son just to remind myself that this is real. The God we cried to for so many years has finally answered us. For fourteen years, my wife and I carried a burden that very few people truly understood. Some burdens are too heavy for words. Some tears are never seen because they are shed behind closed doors.
Some couples smile before the world every day but cry themselves to sleep every night when no one is watching.
*That was our life.*
Every morning, we wore smiles that covered broken hearts. We encouraged others while quietly trying to encourage ourselves. We attended weddings, child dedications, birthday celebrations, and naming ceremonies, but each time we returned home, we were reminded that something precious was missing. People saw our smiles, but they never saw the tears that soaked our pillows at night. Whenever we congratulated parents on the birth of their children, there was always one silent prayer in our hearts:
*”Lord, when will our own day come*?”
As the years passed, the burden became heavier. Every pregnancy gave us hope. Every miscarriage broke our hearts. Every hospital visit renewed our expectations, only for another painful disappointment to leave us picking up the broken pieces of our faith. There were days my wife cried until she had no strength left. There were days I tried to be strong for her while my own heart was breaking. We carried each other’s pain because that was all we had. There were nights we could not sleep. There were days we asked questions we could not answer. There were moments when the pain became so deep that words were no longer enough. Yet, through every disappointment, every unanswered prayer, every painful year, and every tear, we made one decision: We would never let go of God.
Today, barely six hours after the birth of our son I can boldly testify that God is faithful. After fourteen years of waiting, praying, believing, crying, hoping, and refusing to give up, God has blessed my wife and me with our precious baby boy. I am not writing this story to seek sympathy. I am writing it to glorify God. I am writing it to honour the remarkable people God used to carry us when we were too weak to carry ourselves.
Above all, I am writing it to encourage every husband and wife who are still trusting God for the fruit of the womb. If God remembered us after fourteen years, He has not forgotten you. Your own season will surely come.
*A Dream That Refused to Come Easily*
When my wife and I got married in May 2012, our hearts were full of beautiful dreams.
Like every newly married couple, we looked forward to hearing the laughter of children in our home. We believed it would happen naturally and sooner rather than later.
We never imagined that our journey to parenthood would last fourteen years. Days became months. Months became years. One year became five.
Five became ten.
Before we knew it, fourteen years had gone by.
Those years were filled with countless hospital visits, laboratory tests, medications, medical consultations, fasting, prayers, sleepless nights, silent tears, disappointments, and moments when hope seemed to disappear. Every new treatment brought fresh hope. Every disappointment brought fresh pain. Yet, through it all, we continued to believe that one day God would remember us.
*The Children We Never Held*
More than once, my wife became pregnant. Every positive pregnancy test filled our home with joy. We thanked God, believing our long season of waiting had finally ended. But each time, our joy was cut short. Every pregnancy ended in miscarriage.
There are pains words cannot fully explain.
How do you mourn children you never had the chance to carry?
How do you explain the silence that fills a home after beautiful dreams suddenly disappear?
Each loss left a deep wound in our hearts. Yet somehow, God gave us the strength to comfort one another while carrying our own pain.
*When Our World Collapsed*
Then came the year 2021, one of the darkest seasons of our lives. This time, the pregnancy had reached five months. Every passing day increased our confidence. We truly believed our miracle had finally arrived. Then, without warning, everything changed. We lost the pregnancy.
Our world collapsed.
The questions came. The tears came. The silence became unbearable. We did not understand why. But even in our confusion, we refused to let go of God. Faith was all we had left.
*A New City, The Same Battle*
Believing that a new environment and better medical care might help us, we relocated from Benin City to Lagos on 28 December 2021. We hoped for a fresh beginning. Instead, the battle continued. Even in Lagos, we experienced more miscarriages.
One of the most painful was the loss of a twin pregnancy. Losing one child is painful. Losing two at the same time is a sorrow only God truly understands. Many nights, sleep never came. Many mornings, we woke with swollen eyes. Sometimes there were no words left to say. We simply held each other’s hands and prayed.
*The Pain Caused by People’s Words*
As painful as our medical struggles were, some of our deepest wounds came from people’s words. Many people encouraged us. Many prayed with us. But others unknowingly added to our pain.
One day in Benin, someone looked directly at my wife and asked: “*Are you not ashamed? You will soon reach menopause, yet you have no child.*” Those words pierced our hearts. My wife cried bitterly. Watching her cry that day remains one of the most painful memories of my life.
At another time, a family member advised my wife to leave our marriage because of our delay in having children.
Later, after we moved to Lagos, another person also called her and advised her to leave the marriage because they believed there was no future after so many years without children.
When she called me, I was in Abuja. As I listened to her crying over the phone, I could not hold back my own tears. I felt helpless. I felt broken. But deep inside my heart, I still believed God was not finished with our story.
*The man and woman God used as our helper*
That painful season changed everything. For the first time, I walked into the apartment of my Principal, Distinguished Senator Joseph Ikpea Igiagbe, and opened my heart completely. I shared everything with him. He was surprised because I had never told him that part of my life.
He listened patiently.
He comforted me like a father. He encouraged me like a brother. He prayed for me with deep faith.
Then he declared confidently that one day my wife and I would become parents. Those words became a seed of hope in my heart.
Not long afterwards, he arranged for my wife to travel to Warri to meet his beloved wife, Mrs Evelyn Ikpea. From that day, they carried our burden as though it was their own. Mrs Evelyn Ikpea became more than a supporter. She became a mother to us. She prayed constantly with my wife. She strengthened her faith.
She encouraged her whenever discouragement came. She never allowed hopelessness to have the final word.
Together, Distinguished Senator Joseph Ikpea Igiagbe and Mrs Evelyn Ikpea connected us with experienced medical specialists, ensured my wife received quality medical care, and personally paid medical expenses running into millions of naira. Looking back today, I see more than human kindness. I see the hand of God working through compassionate people.
*The Miracle We Waited Fourteen Years For* **
Towards the end of January 2026, something extraordinary happened.
My wife came home one of these days with some good news that changed our lives forever. She was pregnant again. This time, our joy was mixed with fear. We had celebrated before. We had cried before. So we held on to God even more tightly.
A few weeks later, she suddenly started bleeding. Fear gripped my heart. We rushed to the hospital. Those few minutes waiting for the scan result felt longer than fourteen years. Finally, one of the medical staff smiled and said:
*”The baby is alive.”*
We both broke down in tears. Not tears of fear. Tears of gratitude.
Because the pregnancy remained extremely delicate, my wife stayed in the hospital under close medical supervision until the day she gave birth.
The hospital bills continued to rise.
While she carried the pregnancy physically, I carried it emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and financially, with the help and support of Distinguished Senator Joseph Ikpea Igiagbe and Mrs Evelyn Ikpea.
Many people noticed I had lost a lot of weight. Some thought I was seriously sick.
They never knew I was fighting the greatest battle of my life. Every day my prayer remained the same:
*”Lord, preserve my wife. Preserve our child.”*
Even in that difficult moment, God remained faithful. He never abandoned us. Our Living Testimony
When our precious son was finally placed in my arms after fourteen years of waiting, I understood one truth that I will never forget. God had never abandoned us.
His silence was never His absence. While we were waiting, He was working. While we were crying, He was preparing our testimony.
Out of deep gratitude for the extraordinary love shown to us by Distinguished Senator Joseph Ikpea Igiagbe and his dear wife, Mrs Evelyn Ikpea, my wife and I made a decision that will remain part of our family’s history forever.
We have chosen to name our son Igiagbe.
Every time we will call his name, we will remember God’s faithfulness and the remarkable man God used to bless our family.
From today, our home will echo with laughter instead of tears. Our waiting has become a testimony. Our sorrow has become praise. Our shame has become honour. Our story has become living proof that God’s timing is always perfect.
To every husband and wife still trusting God for the fruit of the womb, I leave you with this assurance: Please do not give up.
There were days when I looked at my wife and quietly asked, “Who will inherit everything we have if we never have children?” We cried together. We prayed together. We waited together. Today, by God’s grace, we rejoice together. The same God who remembered us after fourteen years is still working miracles. He still answers prayers. He still wipes away tears. He still turns impossibilities into testimonies. May our story strengthen your faith until your own testimony arrives.
To God alone be all the glory, all the honour, all the thanksgiving, and all the praise.
Amen.
To be continued in Series 2…
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