Woman Gets Pregnant with a Black Man's Child & Her Dad Claims She 'Ruined His Reputation'

When a 17-year-old interracial couple learned they were expecting their first child, they faced sheer backlash. But despite the criticism, they supported each other and eternalized their love by getting married two years later.

True love knows no boundaries. It doesn't discriminate and is patient, kind, and accepting. Luckily, a young couple experienced this feeling firsthand after surviving numerous trials and tribulations.

Micki Morris was the eldest of five siblings. She was a pastor's daughter and received homeschooling until high school. After fifteen years of marriage, her parents divorced. Then, Morris started attending different high schools.

Falling in Love

She first crossed paths with her now-husband at her last high school. They were both 16, newbies, and shared the same English class. Morris had moved from Alaska to California, while her husband came from a few cities.

About a month after their first encounter, they were practically inseparable. The two teenagers came from different walks of life and hardly had anything in common. Still, they shared undeniable chemistry and quickly became best buddies.

After their senior year, the couple planned to attend the same college and live together. Soon, they became much more than high school sweethearts, and at 17 years old, they discovered they were pregnant with their first child.

Family’s Disapproval

The teen couple still had five months of high school left when they realized the magnitude of what had happened. Morris received offers from people who were willing to pay for her adoption. The increasing stares made her uncomfortable.

The Jacobses have been married for nearly seven decades, and despite the backlash, their love only deepened with time.

Morris and her now-husband were criticized, and her father accused her of tarnishing his reputation. At six months pregnant, she took a plane from California to Alaska and rented a room from her grandmother.

Getting Married

She was dumbfounded when her future spouse followed her to Alaska. The two lovebirds tied the knot on New Year's Eve at 19 years old, with their baby girl at their side. However, even Alaska didn't offer them the repose they needed. Morris recollected:

"It wasn’t until the hateful anonymous online messages started flooding in, the unnecessary traffic stops started, and our toddler ended up in the emergency room for getting bit and hit in the face at her daycare that I started to wake up to the truth."

Morris soon realized that her family was black, and they weren't welcomed in Alaska. She then moved back to California in pursuit of her family's safety. Sadly, the judgment, hatred, and gossip continued.

Surviving the Criticism

Her husband was stopped multiple times for driving in a white neighborhood. The couple was followed and harassed by cops, and people's whispers and stares only caused them discomfort. Despite the hardships, Morris and her husband stayed together.

Morris studied black history and culture and forged friendships with black women. She also left her job to look after her daughter. Fortunately, she's now a self-employed entrepreneur and a full-time homeschooling mother.

Morris and her husband have been married for seven years and have three kids, Essence, Naomi, and Jayden. The couple also moved to Seattle amidst the coronavirus pandemic to seek a healthier, more fulfilling life.

A Lovely Family

The couple continues to raise their voice for the black community, online and in real life. Morris shared she's seen a recent shift in people's attitude and behavior toward the black community members. Regarding her family, she expressed:

"I am a mother to beautiful black children. I am a wife to a beautiful black man. I am an advocate for the Black Lives Matter movement."

Morris also mentioned that her family symbolizes love, unity, and togetherness, and the criticism she faced only increased her love for her children and husband.

A Worthwhile Reunion

Like Morris and her husband, mixed-race families are continuously subjected to disparaging treatment. Penny Umbers and Mark Bethel experienced something similar, compelling them to end their relationship as teenagers.

Umbers and Bethel fell in love when they were 16. They were at boarding school, and Bethel traveled from the Bahamian capital, Nassau, to enroll in Trent College, Nottingham, to be with Umbers. But trouble ensued when they went to different universities.

Umbers's father secretly visited Bethel and threatened him to break up with Umbers, or his scholarship would be revoked. His family was already pressuring Bethel on dating a white girl, so he took his life's most challenging decision.

A heartbroken Umbers left college, got married, and divorced twice. Meanwhile, Bethel started a career in hospitality but never forgot Umbers. He kept looking for her but failed because she had changed her name after marriage.

Toward the end of 2019, he found her on Facebook, but they couldn't meet until June 2021 because of the pandemic travel restrictions. Finally, Umbers went to New Providence Island, Bahamas, to reunite with her childhood love.

Bethel proposed to her in October 2021. The couple wrote a book inspired by their story, "Thirty-Nine Years In The Wilderness." They also shared that despite being apart for 39 years, they were excited about their new future.

True Love Conquers All

Umbers and Bethel and Morris's stories aren't the only ones that shed light on tensions faced by mixed-race couples. Several other couples underwent the same circumstances but remained steadfast.

Mary and Jake Jacobs were an interracial couple from the 1940s. They encountered prejudice from strangers and family alike. They met when Jake came over during the war from Trinidad and was stationed near Mary's home in Lancashire.

Jake proposed to Mary when she was 19, and they tied the knot in 1948. When her father found out, he turned her out of the house. The Jacobses have been married for nearly seven decades, and despite the backlash, their love only deepened with time.

A Multi-Cultural Family

Another story is of Pamela and Shafique Uddin, living in Stepney, East London. Pamela is English, and Shafique is from Bangladesh. They met at a restaurant where Shafique was a chef. Friendship turned into love, and they married in 1965.

Pamela's father disapproved of their union, but he became fond of Shafique after a few years. However, the couple faced hostility from people, who shouted "Paki" at Shafique. After marriage, Pamela became a Muslim, but her family remained open to multi-cultural influence.

Similarly, when Jaz, a Punjabi Sikh born in Britain, told his family he wanted to marry a black African girl, Primrose, he faced much pressure. His love was opposite to the Indian custom of marrying in one's own culture and caste.

Breaking Stereotypes

Jaz and Primrose married in 2009 and had both Sikh and Christian weddings. Over time, Jaz convinced his extended family, and the couple vowed to raise their children with religious and racial tolerance.

Circumstances have never been easy for interracial couples. However, these transformative stories prove that true love can break stereotypes and transcend all boundaries. And we're glad these mixed-race couples found their happily-ever-after.

Here's another similar story that you might like, and it's about a Southern woman who welcomed a child from a different race, despite people's whispers. Do you want to know more? You can read the complete story here.