A 26-year-old woman is offering her unborn child in exchange for cash so that she can support her other child living with a disability.
Taruvinga, a mother of two girls, told H-Metro that she is “selling” her unborn child to raise funds to buy a wheelchair for her five-year-old child.
She claimed that her husband, Tawanda Banda (33), abandoned her after giving birth to a child with a disability, saying her in-laws said there was no one with such a condition in their family.
Taruvinga also claimed that her husband impregnated her without her consent, dumped her and then left for Malawi. She said:
I didn’t want another child considering the life I am living where I am failing to support this child on my back.
If I can find a couple that wants to pay for the child in my womb, I’d be grateful.
He is a boy, according to the scan. I am expecting the child in June, according to maternity records.
… I love the neglected child. She is my gift from God so I want money, as well as a wheelchair, to help her access everything, including education.
I am finding it difficult to make ends meet and that is why I saw that it was better to offer the unborn child to either Social Welfare or any willing couple.
I lost my national identity card and without that, I cannot process anything at Social Welfare.
Taruvinga, who is a vendor, said at one point she contemplated taking her own life.