At 41, events professional Lerato Masepe is preparing to welcome her second child — nearly two decades after becoming a mother for the first time. She opens up about waiting, faith, and the responsibility of raising a boy child in today’s world.

Nineteen years after becoming a parent for the first time, expecting your second child at 41-years-old must feel like starting all over again — this time with a truckload of calm, deeper perspective, and an extra boost of courage.

Lerato Masepe is now counting down the weeks until she finally meets her baby boy, transitioning from being a girl mom to stepping into the often talked-about world of being a boy mom.

 

But this is not a responsibility she takes lightly. Lerato understands that raising a boy child comes with its own set of lessons, challenges, and the important task of shaping a kind, emotionally aware man in a complex world.

 

 

Yet, in between the weight of that responsibility and the depth of her reflection, Lerato allows herself moments of lightness. She laughs about whether she will even remember how to change a nappy, admitting that it has been nearly two decades since she last did.

 

“I had been actively trying to conceive since my daughter turned 16 years old. At the time, I felt she was grown — she was in matric then and nearing her independence. But as someone with strong motherly instincts, I knew I had more to give. And as much as I poured into so many people around me, I still craved having my own little one — to fill that void inside me,” she muses.

 

But conceiving did not happen as quickly as she had hoped. In fact, it took three years — to a point where she was no longer focused on it at all. And then, it happened.

 

“Firstly, I cried because that meant my big birthday plans just went out the window,” she says, laughing. “But also because I had already made peace with the idea that maybe my biological clock had run out. I accepted that maybe I was meant to just be a girl mom. Finding out was overwhelming — all the emotions came at me at once.”

 

Her first experience of raising her daughter, she admits, was very much a go-with-the-flowjourney. Falling pregnant at 22, just after completing her tertiary studies, Lerato had the steady support of her mother, grandmother and aunts to guide her through every step, making the experience feel far less daunting.

 

And having her daughter so young meant that, in many ways, the two of them grew up alongside each other.

 

 

“Now, at 41 years old, there’s a sense of independence — a feeling that you should know better simply because of your age,” she says. “At the same time, I’m trying to balance work while mothering another child, because my daughter still needs her mom, and I’m also learning how to put myself first. This time around is very different from before. I’m still figuring things out.”

 

Physically, there hadn’t been many challenges, “thank God,” apart from swollen feet that constantly remind her she’s baking a whole human being inside her.

 

Working right through her pregnancy in the fast-paced world of events and activations helped keep her active, but the last trimester has lived up to its reputation — demanding more rest, more patience, and deeper listening to her body as she prepares for the final stretch.

 

For Lerato, motherhood remains the most rewarding role she has ever taken on.

 

“Looking at my daughter now — how she speaks, how she carries herself — is so heartwarming. I pat myself on the back because I’ve done a decent job. And then I think, ‘I would like to do that again.’ Not because it’s some sort of social experiment,” she says, laughing.

 

“It’s that inward nurturing feeling — knowing that I still have so much to give while I still can. I wanted to give to my own.”

 

Her daughter has already stepped into a deputy-parent role, eagerly awaiting the arrival of her little brother.

 

“She had a delayed reaction when I told her — almost blank at first. But from nowhere it quickly turned into excitement, which relieved my anxiety. I worried that I might be disrupting her norm of being an only child for so long.”

 

 

Now in her 40s, Lerato describes herself as more patient, calmer and more accepting of what is — qualities she believes will shape the way she raises her son.

 

“I want to raise a gentleman,” she says with a huge smile. “I want my son to have a strong sense of self so that he doesn’t go with the wind. I want him to be level-headed, to never forget who he is, and to not feel the need to fit in everywhere he goes — because that would mean he doesn’t know himself.”

 

 

She reveals that his name will be Letlotlo, meaning treasure.

 

“I wish for my son to be a solution in this world,” she says, smitten. “Because he is my treasure.”

 

As uncomfortable as this season has been, Lerato says she cannot wait to finally meet her baby boy.

 

“He is worth the wait,” she says. “He is proof that waiting for something can pay off — that you should never lose hope or stop believing that it can happen. And I know there are many women wishing for this too. Don’t stop believing.

 

“And if it isn’t God’s plan for you to bear a child of your own, look around you. Your love can still multiply in different ways,” she says.