Jeannie Mai Jenkins has spoken out on the struggles that she has been going through amid the news that she is expecting a baby and going to be a parent for the first time.
Jeannie Mai Jenkins Opens Up On The Impact Of Being A Childhood Sexual Abuse Victim
The talk show host is currently with her husband Jeezy, and it was his advice that made Jeannie overcome her fears about being a parent.
And given that parenting involves such huge responsibility, Jeannie had some reservations over whether she was going to be good enough.
This choice was something that she wanted to make for herself rather than merely following the expectations that society had on women to have children.
During an interview with People magazine, she said: “I don’t like the guilt and the pressure that’s placed on women to have children.
“Just because we’re women, it means that we have the choice; it doesn’t mean that we have to have children.”
The main reason why Jeannie has felt this way has been because of the traumatic childhood that she had gone through. During her earlier years, she was subjected to sexual abuse over a period of 5 years.
Naturally, that left her with many traumatic memories, given that the abuse was done at the hands of a close family member. As such, there were huge trust issues that she was struggling to get over.
She added: “I realize that the reason I didn’t want to have kids is because that feeling when I was a kid was so real and so damaging to the point that I’m 42 today still dealing with trust issues and confidence.”
But through it all, she has managed to come out of it the other side. Jeannie realised that there is support on hand, and by accessing it, she was able to hear the stories of others who had been through something similar.
And by tackling this head-on, she was able to move forward in her life. Her following comments confirmed as much: “What I’ve determined to do is face my fears and do everything I can to understand where it comes from so that I know it’s not real.”
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