Despite receiving pressure from her ex to get an abortion, she chose life and now works as a personal finance coach.

At 32 years old, Aisha took a leap of faith to leave her six-figure corporate finance job to become a full-time entrepreneur when an unplanned pregnancy wrecked her business plans. Having lost her stable income and barely living off her savings, she didn’t feel ready to be a mom to twins and felt pressured to get an abortion.

“When I told their dad I was pregnant, he told me, ‘We’re not playing for keeps.’ He said to get an abortion and he would pay for it. He was trying to tell me that it was really easy. You just gotta take this pill. It’s like nothing. But in my heart, I was afraid because I was experiencing pressure,” Aisha recalls.

PRESSURED TO ABORT

Aisha’s ex became verbally abusive toward her. With no support from him, Aisha didn’t know if she had the strength to raise two children on her own.

Her ex told her, “You’ll never make it. Your kids will never prosper. Children of single moms don’t have a future. You’re gonna lose all your hopes and dreams. No man will ever want you or love you because you have kids. Everything you’ve ever wanted and hoped for, worked for, is going to be over.”

Those words hurt Aisha deeply, shattering her self-esteem and dampening any hope she had for her future.

“There I was at the beginning of my entrepreneurial career, pregnant. Somebody who said at some point that he believed in what I was doing was now telling me that nothing will ever work and everything will fail,” Aisha says.

Feeling distraught, Aisha scheduled an ultrasound appointment when she was about 10 weeks along so she could see her twins one last time before getting an abortion.

“I wanted to say goodbye,” Aisha says. “And when I was looking at the screen, one of my twins made eye contact with me.”

She wept frantically during her ultrasound. She wanted to keep her babies, but she didn’t believe she would be able to give them a good life.

“Between their dad telling me everything that I wouldn’t be able to do and my own fear about what this would mean for my future — like I said, I just gave up my income to be a full-time entrepreneur. I was afraid of what people would say to me. I was afraid about what this would mean for my future. And I hadn’t really told my family yet … so I just felt incredibly isolated and alone,” Aisha says.

Knowing Aisha’s financial situation and entrepreneurial endeavors, the stenographer consoled her and referred her to a local pregnancy resource center.

“I know you’re a believer, but you never know what God can do with this,” the stenographer told Aisha. “Right now, you have this blog where you’re inspiring single women in corporate to manage their finances better. You never know what God can do with this — the type of impact you can have.” 

DIVINE INTERVENTION

The stenographer’s encouragement helped Aisha find hope in her unplanned pregnancy. She then visited the pregnancy resource center and received free counseling. The women at the center helped her stand up to her ex and gave her the resources she needed to navigate her situation.

“It’s like the Lord had angels on earth who were in strategic positions … at times of significant decision points where I’m like, am I going to do this? Or am I going to fall into fear? Am I going to fall into this despair?” Aisha says.

Even with her visit to the center, Aisha still leaned toward scheduling an abortion. She had planned to book an appointment when she was 12 weeks along and then go to Bible study. But God intervened that day. The abortion clinic didn’t pick up her call so she wasn’t able to schedule the abortion.

That divine intervention was exactly what Aisha needed before attending her Bible study. The Lord softened her heart as she listened to her pastor preach about navigating storms. 

During his sermon, the pastor shared profound advice that helped Aisha choose life — “Never make a permanent decision in a temporary situation.”

“I’m like, this is a storm. The storm has to go away. It has to obey the voice of Jesus. This is just a storm. So when I heard the pastor say that, I’m like, wow, abortion is permanent but what I’m going through is temporary. That gave me the fortitude to choose life,” Aisha says.

MENTORING SINGLE MOMS

Aisha teaching a finance workshop at a pregnancy center.

Aisha’s son and daughter are now 9 years old. And just like the stenographer had said, God transformed her unplanned pregnancy into something good. Her story has allowed her to minister to expectant moms and single moms as a personal finance coach through her business, FNPhenomenal.

Aisha rekindled her dream to become a full-time entrepreneur when her twins were in preschool. It took several years after her pregnancy to pursue her dream because of the shame she carried. She felt like a fraud working as a finance expert when she was struggling financially as a single mom.

Aisha self-published her book, which became an Amazon best-seller.

But it was because of those financial struggles that led Aisha to share her knowledge into a series of blog posts to help other single moms manage their finances. Those blog posts eventually turned into an Amazon best-selling book called “Navigating the Impossible: A Survival Guide for Single Moms from Pregnancy through the First Year of Motherhood.”

“Even though I was dealing with everything, I wanted women to have hope. If someone experienced an unplanned pregnancy today or tomorrow, they could pick this book up and say, OK, this is how I manage my finances. This is how I build my support system. This is how I find Jesus and how I can have hope,” Aisha says.

Aisha also struggled with depression and suicidal ideation during her first few years of motherhood. She felt ashamed of her unplanned pregnancy and being a single mom. Her ex’s words held so much weight over her life, but over time, God healed her heart and helped her overcome her fears.

“The Lord is just good. He was able to bring me out of that pit. During that time of depression, I dealt with suicidal ideation. I just felt like everything was over, and I felt unworthy and unqualified to even be my own kids’ parent. In that mess of despair, I thought that doing that would allow somebody more worthy to raise them. But the Lord just really grabbed me and just showed His love to me,” Aisha says.

Aisha shared her testimony at the 2024 March for Life in Washington, D.C.

It has been over 10 years since her unplanned pregnancy, but Aisha doesn’t regret choosing life for her twins. She is grateful that she gets to be their mom, and she is amazed by how God redeemed her story into a testimony to help other women.

“I just knew my twins deserved to live. That maternal instinct kicked in. I didn’t know what was going to happen and I was absolutely miserable, but I knew I had this fierce mama bear protection over them. I just knew that they deserved life,” Aisha says.

Aisha’s encouragement to those facing an unplanned pregnancy:

“You can do it. You’re stronger than you can ever imagine. And with God, all things are possible. Just like the Lord told Mary, nothing’s impossible with God. You’re faced against the impossible. But just like God parted the Red Sea for the people of Israel, He can part the Red Sea in your life too. When you look back, it will be a testimony about the goodness of God and what He did in your life.”