You are a devout husband. You spent the first decade of your marriage hoping on God to bless your home with the fruit of the womb. Irrespective of family and societal pressure, you stick to your wife and never cheat on her. After all isn’t it “For better and For worse”?
“Luck” as some people will say, finally shines on your family in the area of fertility and reproduction. Your once gloomy home becomes a place of happiness and joy. The glorious nine months of gestation has you running around purchasing items to give your wife the best comfort. You read books on pregnancy and babies. Of course your first child deserves the best of care even whilst in its mother’s womb.
One sunny afternoon, in your workplace, a call comes in “Sir your wife has just been rushed to the City centre hospital, she’s due for Labor and she’s been having contractions for over thirty minutes now”
These words send you sprinting and leaping over office tables and co-workers’ heads like a low budget James bond. After causing cacophony at your workplace, you manage to slip into your car without being seen by your Boss. You make a mental note to write an apology letter as you zoomed off to the Hospital.
On getting to the hospital, you rush into the ward your wife is said to be in. As you step into the ward, you hear the shrill cry of a baby and a woman trying to coo the baby. You raise your eyes and see that the woman is actually your wife and the child?! Your baby. Your son.
Your joy knows no bounds as you carefully take the baby from your wife and dance goofily to her amusement. Your heart is about to bust out of your chest. Finally a mini you is born.
You look at your baby again to behold the wonders of the almighty and to your confusion, you see the child breathing hard. Abnormal. Fear grips you as you turn to your wife who quickly runs out to call the doctor.
After two minutes, the doctor runs in with your wife and two nurses behind. The doctor takes your baby from you and check his vitals. “We have to take your baby to the ICU NOW! It’s an emergency”. Before you respond, they take your child away with your wife wailing after them. What just happened? What went wrong? Did you hold the child wrongly? So many questions, but no answers.
You are called upon by the doctor after a while. Your child needs blood, a case of anemia. You and your wife rush off to the hospital’s blood bank to donate as much blood as needed. Samples are taken, Tests are run. Results are out
Neither of you are a match. Impossible! So it seems. That’s your baby right there, surely one parent’s blood type should be a match. Samples are taken again, there must be a mistake somewhere. Tests are run again, oh the incompetency of a Hospital’s whole Hematology lab. Results are out.
You and your wife are called to the office to reveal the test results.
“Uhm sir, ma’am. The results came out the same again. But this time, I have more news for you. Well our chief hematologist is around and he carried out more tests because he noticed something was wrong with the samples, especially Yours Sir. He carried out a DNA test actually and your paternity to child compatibility is less than 25% while your wife’s maternity to child compatibility is over 85%”
You can’t believe what you hear. You turn to your wife “I can’t believe you would do this to me, you cheated on me?”
The doctor stops you short “No sir, this is not a case of cheating. Like I said, your paternity to child compatibility is less than 25%. Which means you’re not completely written off as unrelated to the child”
“Doctor what are you saying?”
“Sir, you are a Human Chimera”
Chimera? What’s that? Suddenly you cringe, you remember coming across that term few years ago.
Just as the realization hit you.
You faint.
Your world has finally crashed.
Written by Favour Ikharo, Bayero University Kano, Kano State, NIGERIA
Nice write up.
Just that situations like this are really heart breaking
It’s really traumatic
N if not careful, psychologically disturbing
My heart goes out to everyone battling with the condition
I just learnt something
This was really insightful
I’m glad you did
Thanks for engaging
A beautiful write-up this is!
Just getting to know about ths rare phenomenon
I’m glad you learnt something new
Thanks for engaging
Lovely piece!!! A lot of people are always in a haste to accuse their spouse of infidelity when such might not be the case.