“For Ten Years I Raised My Son Without a Father—The Entire Village Mocked Me, Until One Day Luxury Cars Pulled Up in Front of My House and the Child’s Real Father Made Everyone Cry”
It was a hot afternoon in the village. I—Hanh—was crouching down, gathering dry branches to light the fire.
At the door, my son, a ten-year-old boy, watched me with innocent eyes.
“Mom, why don’t I have a father like my classmates?”
I couldn’t answer. For ten years, I hadn’t found the words to do so.
Years of Ridicule and Humiliation
When I got pregnant, the murmurs in the village began:
“My God! Pregnant without a husband! What a shame on her family!”
I gritted my teeth and endured it all. With my belly growing, I worked wherever I could—pulling weeds, harvesting rice, washing dishes in soup kitchens.
Some threw trash in front of my house, others spoke loudly as I passed by:
“The child’s father must have abandoned her. Who would want to take on such a disgrace?”
They didn’t know that the man I loved was overjoyed when I told him I was pregnant.