Christopher Bassey and Tzar Oluigbo (Lead Writers)
At exactly 9:12 p.m on a humid Lagos night, Rukayat (not real name) sat cross-legged on her bed, listening to the sound of raindrops hitting the roof and trickling down her windowpane.
Her thumb hovered over the screen of her phone. She had been replaying the same thought for weeks, a whisper that grew louder with every conversation among her friends and cousins: “what if using contraception makes me barren?”
She was 23, single, and deeply aware of the consequences of being discovered asking such questions in her community. The shame would be heavy and the judgement unbearable. Yet, tonight, something about the quiet, the hum of her ceiling fan, and the privacy of her room gave her just enough courage to type the words.
“Will family planning make me barren?”