HARARE – Former radio and TV star Ruvheneko Parirenyatwa is expecting her first baby at 33 – with a sperm donor.

Parirenyatwa said she took the unconventional route to motherhood after getting alarming news about her health, and a fear that her window of having a child was fast closing.

“I’ve wanted to be a mother since I was 21. My heart has been on some adventures between now and then. It has buried enough tears and I’m unable to trust easily, love freely or kiss any more frogs,” Ruvhi said in a post on Instagram as she paraded her baby bump.

“Like most of us, I’ve loved and lost and above all I’ve learned. Last year, I convinced myself that while I wait for Mr Right, my body is not getting any younger, so why not start my journey to motherhood, even if it meant unconventionally?”

Ruvhi said she spent months researching artificial insemination and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments, even getting on flights “to compare my options of freezing my eggs or getting a donor.”

“In all this, I discovered that I have fibroids, many of them. So this triggered me into action. What if I keep waiting for the fairytale, what if I fail to have children, like ever? Fast forward past all the prayers, consultations and advice, I fell pregnant.”

Parirenyatwa said she wonders if she should have been “more patient with God and waited for the ring, the lobola, the vows to do things properly by society’s standards.”

“Perhaps, but I worry that in our narratives as 21st century women, as feminists, as gender equity advocates, we are getting a little lost along the way. I respect the 30 somethings who are convinced that we’re still young, and that we’ve time. Personally, I’ve reached my threshold. With my fibroids, genetics and personal goals, I’m ready to be called mum,” she said.

But even with her choice set, Ruvhi admits being “terrified” about her journey to motherhood.

“I honour all women, I acknowledge that our journeys are different and that motherhood might come to us at different times or not at all. I’m terrified and probably not even ready, but I’m here now and I’m doing this,” she said.

Ruvhi is the daughter of former health minister David Parirenyatwa. Her media career has included stints at Star FM and ZTV.