‘I’m 46, single and pregnant’ — Isha Sesay shares touching story

Isha Sesay, the British journalist of Sierra-Leonian descent, has announced she is expecting her first child at the age of 46.

The former CNN correspondent revealed she is pregnant via a post on her Twitter page on Thursday.

“I have some major news to share with you… I’M PREGNANT,” she wrote.

Sesay also shared her pregnancy journey in a touching piece published on Today.com.

The award-winning journalist and author said she never believed at 46, she would be “divorced, single, and having a baby on her own.”

“If you’d told the 16-year-old me that at 46, I’d be divorced, single and having a baby on my own — by choice! — I’d have shuddered and firmly said “no!” Back then, I had very definite ideas about the future course my personal life would take, and it didn’t look like this. I imagined something way more straightforward and dare I say it, conventional,” she said.

Sesay said it took her three IVF attempts before she successfully got pregnant.

The author also admitted to having fears about raising a child alone.

“My first IVF attempt was unsuccessful, and I cried for days afterward, before I could find the strength to start the process all over again a few months later,” she said.

“But with each passing day, I grew more fearful and anxious about my chances of being able to successfully carry a child.

“Those feelings only intensified when my doctor decided to halt my second attempt mid-cycle because my body was responding negatively to the medication.

“With two failed attempts to my name, I approached my third embryo transfer with relatively low expectations. In the two weeks that followed the procedure, my mind raced uncontrollably and I battled the urge to take an early pregnancy test.

“The day before I was scheduled to return to the clinic, I finally caved in and bought a home test because I couldn’t bear a repeat of the hours-long wait before the clinic called with the results.

“The next morning I got up long before the sun was up, anxiously headed to my bathroom and opened the box. The minutes ticked by and I cycled through a myriad of emotions. When the word “pregnant” flashed up on the tiny screen, I screamed and fell to my knees before bursting into tears.”

Sesay also spoke about her failed marriage and how “not having a child would be the greatest regret of my life.”

“A brief marriage to a kind man didn’t result in children, and then the year I turned 40, my mum had a catastrophic stroke, leaving me no emotional space to contemplate anything other than caring for her. Six years later, she tried relationships again, but it didn’t work out.

“It was then, in the aftermath of our inevitable breakup, that it hit me: Not having a child would be the greatest regret of my life. And with my biological clock ticking down, if I was waiting for the right man to come along before I did it, well, I might just find myself out of time.”