After 14 years of waiting, miscarriages, medical consultations, prayers and painful disappointments, Hon. Rufus Alele, a senior legislative aide to Senator Joseph Ikpea Igiagbe, and his wife have welcomed their first child, a baby boy.
Alele, in an emotional testimony titled “My Life, My Story: For Fourteen Years, My Wife and I Carried a Pain No One Could See – Until God Changed Our Story,” said the birth of his son marked the end of a long and painful journey.
“For the first time in fourteen years, I am holding my own child in my arms,” he wrote. He added: “For the first time in fourteen years, I have heard the cry of a baby that belongs to my wife and me.” But how does a couple endure 14 years of waiting for something many people take for granted?
According to him, he and his wife married in May 2012 with hopes of raising a family, but their dream did not come easily. Years of hospital visits, laboratory tests, medications, medical consultations, fasting and prayers followed. “We never imagined that our journey to parenthood would last fourteen years,”
Alele said. How many disappointments can a couple endure before hope begins to fade? How many nights can they cry privately while maintaining smiles before the world? The couple experienced several pregnancies, but each ended in miscarriage.
Alele recalled the pain of repeatedly celebrating pregnancies only to lose them. “How do you mourn children you never had the chance to carry?” he asked. “How do you explain the silence that fills a home after beautiful dreams suddenly disappear?”
The losses, he said, left deep wounds, but he and his wife continued to comfort each other and hold on to their faith.
The year 2021, according to Alele, became one of the darkest periods of their lives after his wife lost a pregnancy that had reached five months.
Seeking better medical care and a fresh beginning, the couple relocated from Benin City to Lagos on December 28, 2021. Yet, the miscarriages continued, including the loss of a twin pregnancy. How much more pain could they take? How many times could they rebuild their hopes after another devastating loss?
Alele also recalled the painful words of people who questioned their childlessness.
He said someone once asked his wife in Benin: “Are you not ashamed? You will soon reach menopause, yet you have no child.” Another family member reportedly advised his wife to leave the marriage, while someone in Lagos later made a similar suggestion. For a couple already fighting a private battle, could such words do anything other than deepen their pain?
A major turning point came when Alele finally opened up to his principal, Senator Joseph Ikpea Igiagbe, about the struggle.
He said Senator Ikpea listened, comforted him, prayed with him and assured him that he and his wife would eventually become parents. Could one word of encouragement change the outlook of someone who had almost lost hope? Alele said the Senator’s assurance became “a seed of hope” in his heart.
He said Senator Ikpea later arranged for his wife to meet Mrs Evelyn Ikpea in Warri. According to Alele, Mrs Ikpea became a mother figure who prayed with his wife, encouraged her and strengthened her faith. The couple also connected them with medical specialists and personally supported medical expenses running into millions of naira.
Alele said, “Looking back today, I see more than human kindness. I see the hand of God working through compassionate people.”
Towards the end of January 2026, the couple received news that changed their lives: his wife was pregnant again. However, their excitement was accompanied by fear because of their history of miscarriages. Weeks later, she began bleeding and they rushed to the hospital. After the scan, a medical staff member reportedly told them: “The baby is alive.” What could have been more powerful to a couple who had already lost several pregnancies?
Alele said both he and his wife broke down in tears.
Because the pregnancy remained delicate, his wife stayed in hospital under close medical supervision until she gave birth.
Alele said the period tested him emotionally, spiritually, mentally and financially, “Every day my prayer remained the same: ‘Lord, preserve my wife. Preserve our child,’” he recalled. Finally, after 14 years, the prayer was answered as he held his newborn son in his arms.
In gratitude for the people he believes God used to change their story, Alele and his wife decided to name their son Igiagbe, in honour of Senator Joseph Ikpea Igiagbe. Reflecting on the journey, he said: “His silence was never His absence. While we were waiting, He was working.”
He urged couples still waiting for the fruit of the womb not to give up, asking: “Who will inherit everything we have if we never have children?” For Alele and his wife, that question has finally been replaced by the laughter of a child after 14 years of waiting.
