Even though it is a trend that seems to have been going on for some years, the idea that young women intentionally get pregnant and then go on to abort for the sake of carving out a curvaceous body is still very strange to those just contacting the revelation, which is why they have found it very hard to believe. Nonetheless, social media conversations and thoughts from health experts all suggest that this isn’t any ordinary myth. 

The fact is that up to 14 years imprisonment awaits anyone found to have carried out an abortion outside the strict conditions that the Nigerian law dictates, yet this is being bypassed. For a woman not to be tried for aborting after taking in, the act must be seen to have been performed to save her life.

It is perhaps because of several strict conditions guiding any termination that has made the notion what most find quite difficult to fathom because the process is just way too risky. I’ve heard a lot of dumb things on the internet. But women getting pregnant just to abort for weight gain is dumbest of all, reads an Independence Day anniversary tweet posted by Adaure on her X profile.

Although the idea is being disputed, it isn’t much of a surprise that this is the case because the women who venture into such do not want to be seen. They only want a plump body that has the confidence in their body growing particularly to attract interest from the opposite sex or other times so that photo shoots look good.

I’ve heard a lot of dumb things on the internet. But women getting pregnant just to abort for weight gain is dumbest of all.

— Adaure (@nne_simona) October 1, 2024

It appears that aborting between the 12 and 20 weeks of pregnancy is more common in the south-south geopolitical zone, hence why there have been several debates countering the notion in disbelief.

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There have been wild accounts pointing towards tertiary institutions as the venue for weight-gaining abortions. One of these is the Delta State Polytechnic starting in 2008, according to a Punch Newspaper discovery.  It was revealed that the young women who ventured into this over there were known as the hanger girls.

It is the male lovers of these women who have been getting most of the rude shocks. Many reportedly only find out what their girlfriends had done after they must have taken in, making for a bizarre experience that they quickly want to forget but sadly, they cannot.

Other times, boyfriends are the ones who put pressure on their partners because they want them to look more attractive. The purported evidence that will be revealed when a woman gets knocked up will be that their curvy shape shows. Mainly, their breasts get fuller and the extra fat around their waist spirals to the hip region which then spreads to the thighs.

All these are supposedly the physical metrics with which those who indulge measure their success, but this is a milestone they may never check. It is being viewed that getting pregnant has no single-line flow. A petite woman may experience protrusion or she may not. This is why practising dietary procedures is a better recommendation.

If young women truly want natural thickness, they should focus on getting a lot of calories into their bodies, which is one of the hacks nutritionists say they should pursue. Southwest in the megacity of Lagos, that was what Emmanuel Udoh highlighted to avoid life-long consequences like being unable to conceive when the perpetrators now want to have a child.

At this time, the impact won’t be felt by them alone, but also by their spouses and close relations. Mr Udoh, sharing in a Punch News report, worked out the maths by saying: When you consume more calories than your body needs, you gain weight and when you consume fewer calories than your body needs, you lose the weight you already have.

For a woman to achieve their desired weight depends on body mass index, which is why the nutritionist advised they stay within the limit of your ideal body weight.

Instead of getting pregnant and breaking the law, young women should ensure adequate protein in their meals. The foods they can consume to stay within range might involve veggies. They can have sufficient meat, fish, eggs, milk, and carbohydrates.

All these combined present a risk-free weight gain journey compared to the morally contentious act of getting knocked up and breaking the law.

On a more serious note, that idea of getting pregnant to abort after three months so as to gain weight still sounds very weird to me. What happened to using supplements or how are you not scared of repercussions from abortions?, Folami Flakes was asking via her X profile but that probably will not halt the trend involving women trying to escape their very slim body figures.

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Meiza Nigeria