Just over a year ago, my younger sister Rose got married.
Now, she is about to give birth to her first child. Her husband’s family has long struggled financially, and they are still paying off their wedding debt. When I heard that Rose was due any day, my first instinct was to help her in any way I could.
But the truth is, I am only a Manchester office clerk, earning just enough to make ends meet. I had no real savings of my own—only the £750 that my wife, Lisa, had carefully put aside. That sum was a gift left to her by her late mother, under her name, and she had always called it her “maternity fund” for the day we would start a family.
Every time I had ever mentioned using it, she flatly refused:
“That money is for when we have our own baby. Don’t touch it!”
But this time, I told myself, it was different. Rose was my sister—my own blood. I felt it was my responsibility to stand by her. So I tried to talk to Lisa gently at first, then more firmly, and finally, with rising frustration:
“Can’t you stop being so selfish for once? Rose doesn’t even have a decent pram, and she’s about to give birth. She’s my sister, but she’s yours too!”
Lisa shot me a cold glance. Her voice trembled with hurt:
“You talk as if I don’t exist. Since the day we married, have you ever once asked me what I need?”
I snapped back, irritated:
“Is this really the time to talk about small things like that? Giving £750 doesn’t mean we lose everything!”
She went silent, stood up, and walked into the bedroom, leaving me in the lounge muttering under my breath, convinced I was finally seeing her “true colors.”
A few minutes later, Lisa returned. She said nothing, only carried a small box. She stopped in front of me and dropped it onto the floor.
“You want £750, right? Here—take it yourself.”
I froze. But inside was not money.
They were medical records.
My hands trembled as I picked them up: fertility test results, hormone test results, abnormal uterine scan reports… All of them dated, showing clearly that she had been visiting private clinics and doctors on her own, enduring tests and treatments in silence, without ever telling me.
The last page was an estimate for in vitro fertilization (IVF). Nearly £1,200 in total.
Her eyes were red, her voice shaky yet unwavering:
“That money… is my only hope to become a mother. I haven’t spent a single pound on myself. I’ve been preparing to start IVF next month. And you dare to call me selfish?”
My throat tightened. I couldn’t answer.
But Lisa wasn’t finished. She walked to the wardrobe and brought out another bundle of documents: her resignation letter from her previous job, a letter from her parents apologizing that they couldn’t help financially, and a bank book showing only £800 left.
“I have no one else but you. I’ve placed all my hopes in this. But if I have to give everything away to your family… then just consider me unworthy to be your wife.”
She turned away, stepped back into the bedroom, and slammed the door shut.
The house fell silent.
I stared at the medical papers scattered across the carpet, hearing only the pounding of my own heart.
I—a husband—had called her selfish without ever asking about the battles she was silently fighting. I had never realized that her deepest dream was not wealth or comfort… but simply to be a mother.
And for the first time in my life, I found myself on my knees.
Not to beg for money—
but to beg for her forgiveness.
