An image of three Nigerian sisters posing for a maternity photo shoot together has been shared hundreds of times by individuals on social media.
“How many times will we get the opportunity to be pregnant together?” 27-year-old Chika Okafor tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “It’s a blessing that should be captured.”
Onyeka Ufere, 30, Okafor and Ogechi Babalola, 26, are expecting to have their children around the same time. All three sisters were born in Nigeria, but the oldest two live in California, while the youngest resides in Atlanta.
Babalola is pregnant with a baby boy and said she was ecstatic when she and her husband found out they were expecting their first child together. Just six months later after a positive pregnancy test, she and her two siblings are preparing to welcome their new additions to the family a few weeks apart from one another.
(From left) Onyeka Ufere, Chika Okafor, and Ogechi Babalola. (gechigech instagram)
“For me and my sister Chika, this is our first pregnancy, and the thought of doing it alone was a little bit intimidating. Onyeka has been through this whole process once before with her first set of twins,” Babalola says. “There’s nothing like complaining, laughing, and getting so frustrated you’re almost in tears with someone who you know understands what you’re going through because they’re literally going through the same stuff!”
Okafor, the middle sister, is also pregnant with a boy, and Ufere is carrying her second set of twins, the sex of whom she’ll find out in December.
“I am super-excited to raise my children with their cousins,” Ufere expresses. “I am sure the closeness I have with my sisters will transpire into our children.”
The trio tells BBC during an interview that their mother is “over the moon” with the news of her grandchildren and has been sharing their maternity photos with “everybody.”
(sisters posing on california beach)
The three sisters decided to do their joint photo shoot together when Babalola visited California, where they grew up after moving from Nigeria. The siblings wore white flowing gowns while posing on a beach and embracing their baby bumps.
Babalola says she and her sisters have always had a close bond and hopes their children will too.
“We all have been blessed to have some great friends in our lives, but at the end of the day, we always know that we have each other, even if everyone else disappeared,” the 26-year-old says.
The photos were taken by the siblings’ friend Cynthia Onyejiji and their incredible story was discovered on Instagram.
