Xiaoyu thought the two pregnancies couldn’t just be a coincidence. She first suspected her boyfriend’s parents of tampering with the condoms in order for the couple to give birth to grandchildren. But her boyfriend, Xiaodong, tested the leftover condoms they had purchased from a nearby convenience store by filling them up with water, he found that 10 out of 12 of them leaked.

The couple contacted the media, which replicated the test with the couple’s remaining “Sixth Sense” brand 3C condoms, with similar results. The reporter spent another RMB 40 for two more boxes of condoms of the same brand, only to find that 7 out of 12 condoms leaked — one even had five holes in it.

The reporter determined the condoms were counterfeit after contacting the manufacturer and comparing serial numbers.

There have been multiple news stories regarding the sale of counterfeit condoms in China. Police seized fakes in Shanghai in April 2015 and in Guangzhou in January 2015. There were even 600,000 counterfeit condoms seized in Italy in July that year.

Xiaoyu said she wants to have children, but her current circumstances are preventing her from starting a family. She said the unwanted pregnancies have been a source of shame for her: “All of our neighbors and friends know about this and have been critical towards me. Some of them even say that I am shameless.”

“Our only option is to move, but we don’t know where we can move to.”

The post Fake Condoms On Sale in China, Leave Woman Pregnant Twice in 3 Months appeared first on The Nanfang.

According to data released by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning last week, only 10 percent of eligible couples are actually interested in giving their kid a brother or sister.

According to the data, 55,851 of qualified Beijing couples applied to have a second child as of October this year, accounting for just one-tenth of the estimated 550,000 eligible couples. In the country as a whole, 1.45 million couples applied to have a second baby by May of this year, accounting for just 13 percent of all eligible couples, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

At the end of 2013 China introduced a policy allowing couples to have a second child if one of the parents is an only child. A previous version required both parents to be the only children in their families.

However, China’s new, much more expansive, two child policy has not led to a surge in interest for second children. A recent CCTV poll found that 30 percent of parents said they are not willing to have a second child because they don’t have enough money.

Credit Suisse economist, Dong Tao, estimates that the cost of raising a child until adulthood in China is 499,200 yuan, or around 27,700 yuan a year, which doesn’t account for education expenses. “The high cost of raising a child is probably China’s new birth control,” said Dong.

Announced October 29, the end of the one child policy has yet to be ratified by the National People’s Congress, and remains law until such time.

According to Wang Peian, an official with the National Health and Family Planning Commission, China’s government estimates that with 90 million couples eligible to have two children, births will increase over the next few years, eventually peaking at over 20 million newborns a year.

Related:

• Guangdong’s New “Two-Child Policy” Off to a Rocky Start
• Shenzhen Documentary “Come On, Baby” Criticized for its “Painful” Childbirth

The post They Now Have The Chance, But Few Chinese Couples Want More Than One Kid appeared first on The Nanfang.

Having stored some 10,000 human embryos for as long as ten years, the fertility center of the Jiangsu provincial People’s Hospital announced it is destroying approximately 1,000 embryos because donors refuse to pay their fees or cannot be reached.

Similarly, the Shanghai Jiai Genetics and IVF Institute is considering doing the same thing. Of the 71,309 human embryos it currently has in storage, over half of them have been abandoned by their donors.

These two facilities charge between 150 and 180 yuan ($28) per month to store the embryos in liquid nitrogen at minus 196 degrees Celsius. According to the signed agreement, the fertility facility is allowed to destroy or use the stored embryos for medical research if its donors do not pay the storage fee for six consecutive months.

According to Chinese law, abandoned embryos cannot be adopted by third parties.

Fertility experts believe that the large number of abandoned embryos suggest that there are other reasons contributing to donors’ reluctance to reclaim their samples. “It seems to be taboo for Chinese couples to claim that their children were born through in vitro fertilization (IVF), therefore they mentally cut themselves off from the hospital afterwards,” said Wang Wei, the Director of the Fertility Center at Jiangsu provincial People’s Hospital.

Sun Xiaoxi, vice president of the Shanghai Jiai Genetics institute, shares a similar opinion. “Maybe they do not want others to know they received IVF treatment,” Sun said.

Sun goes on to say that destroying the embryos is probably a good thing. “Frankly, those stored for over 10 years may not be any good as women are more likely to cross the age to bear children,” Sun said. “Besides, there is not enough scientific evidence that it is safe to use embryos that have been lying frozen for so long.”

Sun also appears to have a sense of humor about the issue. When discussing the massive numbers of abandoned embryos, Sun says “the center did not expect so many people to leave their embryos out in the cold.”

The post Fertility Clinics in China To Destroy Thousands Of Abandoned Human Embryos appeared first on The Nanfang.

You can be a successful, independent Chinese woman with your own career, but you can’t control what you do with the eggs in your own body – at least, not without a man in your life. That’s because if a woman wants to freeze her own eggs to give birth in the future, she needs to meet an important requirement: having a husband.

China’s Ministry of Health has said that any Chinese couples interested in using assisted reproductive technology must present their marriage certificate, identity cards and birth permits and prove that at least one partner is suffering from fertility difficulties if they want to use the technology.

The ban comes after a controversy erupted earlier this summer when actor and director Xu Jinglei (seen below) was reported to have had her eggs frozen in the USA. The outcry over the procedure had to do with Xu’s age, 41, and the fact that she remains unmarried.

Netizens felt Xu was far too old to be considering having a baby of her own through any means, and should refrain from “playing God”. Meanwhile, Sina News reports that egg-freezing is a growing trend among women in Chinese hospitals who are following in the footsteps of celebrities like Xu.

For her part, Xu only had personal misgivings, saying, “The only thing I regret is that I am a little bit late in doing so.”  Xu explained her decision to store her eggs was the only way to make up for her past mistakes if she failed to get married and have a baby.

The issue of leftover women is a taboo subject in China, with society generally accepting that women should get married before the age of 27. This fixed age is important because pregnancies are not encouraged to take place after 30 years of age. Experts warn that postponing pregnancy can lead to a host of problems and urge women to reconsider using techniques such as egg freezing.

Regulations set by the Ministry of Health now state that freezing eggs solely for the purpose of preserving or extending fertility, surrogacy and trading in ova are all illegal acts. The ban was met with harsh criticism online. Here’s how popular blogger and Nescafe spokesperson Han Han lashed out at the Ministry of Health:

So it’s not possible to want to have a child without first getting married to a man? You can’t use your own eggs? Women don’t have the right to independently have their own babies? In addition to this, birth permits aren’t given to unmarried women who get pregnant, meaning that these children won’t even be able to get a hukou (residence permit) in the future unless they pay a large fine as a punishment. Does bearing children require a man for a husband? I can’t accept this kind of male chauvinism.

As pointed out by Chinese media, China has no major technological obstacles to successful egg freezing, only that there is an ethical line drawn by society as to how this assisted reproductive technology will be used. However, ethical standards aren’t impeding the progress of certain scientific research in China, such as stem cell research, which is occurring in a unregulated environment that has been called the “Wild Wild West”.

Nature reports that despite guidelines set by China’s Ministry of Health, clinics continue to provide untested medical treatments derived from stem cell research.

So while single women in China don’t have the right to control their own reproductive systems, at least Chinese scientists seem to be enjoying their freedom in China. As neurobiologist Luo Minmin said, “If I had stayed in America, the chances of making a discovery would have been lower. Here, people are willing to take risks. They give you money, and essentially you can do whatever you want.”

Related:

• Hong Kong’s Gender Imbalance Leaving a Generation of Unmarried Women
• Guangdong Has The 2nd Largest Population of “Leftover Women” in China
• Guangdong has the most singles in China, but “leftover men” a problem
• University student becomes celebrity for marrying and having kids early
• Anhui Bill Proposes “Pink Holidays” For Menstruating Women
• Did the Times Censor a Story on Foreign Abortions in China?

The post Chinese Government to Single Women: Unless You Have a Man Already, You Can’t Freeze Your Eggs appeared first on The Nanfang.

The study was led by epidemiologist David Q. Rich of the University of Rochester Medical Center, and was published in the journal, Environmental Health Perspectives. Here’s Shanghai Daily with more:

The researchers in China and the United States used records of more than 83,000 full-term births to mothers in Beijing from 2007 to 2009.

The authors suggested that pollution controls — even those that were short-lived — can have positive health benefits.

“These findings not only illustrate one of the many significant health consequences of pollution, but also demonstrate that this phenomenon can be reversed,” Rich said in a statement.

Other studies have drawn associations between pollution and birth weight; but they haven’t linked which stage of pregnancy was most at risk. Rich’s study was noted to have not made any significant association for the first seven months of pregnancy.

Beijing substantially improved its poor air quality during the 47 days of the Beijing Olympics through extensive measures, including closing factories, halting construction, and severely restricting car use. These measures were temporary, and were lifted after the games were over.

Since the Olympics, Beijing’s air quality has been known to improve for specific international events, such as last year’s APEC summit, which featured similar measures being implemented.

The post Heavier Babies Born During Pollution-Free Beijing Olympics appeared first on The Nanfang.

Mrs Liu from Guangzhou has been urged to have a second child by her mother-in-law. But upon hearing it’s bad luck to have a baby during the Year of the Ram, due to start next year on February 19, 2015, the mother-in-law tries to persuade Liu to conceive and bear a child during this calendar year, according to Nanfang Metropolis Daily.

The reason why babies born in the Year of the Ram are unlucky is because they are “fated to suffer”. A folklore saying goes: Nine rams out of ten are not completed; this means people born during the year of ram will have bad luck. Considering what type of future is in store for her child, Mrs Liu hesitates to have another baby.

RELATED: Guangdong’s New “Two-Child Policy” Off to a Rocky Start

Ye Chunsheng, Vice-President of the China Folklore Society and the Chinese department Professor of Sun Yat-sen University says the opinion doesn’t hold water at all. “I think people born in the year are very nice though,” he said.

Mrs Du, Director of Liwan District People’s Hospital, disagrees with superstitions regarding luck. “Based on the statistics we have now, the number of babies born next year doesn’t much difference.” In regards to women who may try to give birth prematurely to avoid giving birth to a child born during the Year of the Ram, Du said, “It’s very harmful to have a Caesarean one month earlier than the date of expectancy. It will not only cause massive bleeding, but also amniotic embolism; either case will be dangerous for mothers and babies.”

Hongn Kong fengshui expert Mak Lingling reassures people not to worry about babies born in the Year of the Ram. Mak said, “Rams stand for auspiciousness. Baby rams born in the morning are passive and conservative, but have good people skills. Afternoon baby rams are more active, while evening rams are too conservative and conventional but don’t like new environments.”

Photo: TX News

Related:
Scanner at Guangzhou Airport Finds Passenger Trying to Transport Human Leg
Foshan Woman Believes Baby is Cursed, Gives It Away

The post Guangzhou Mothers Rushing Pregnancy to Avoid Unlucky Year of the Ram appeared first on The Nanfang.

So when a Fuzhou grandfather-to-be heard his daughter-in-law was pregnant with the miracle of life, he wanted to take all the correct measures to ensure the complete safety of the unborn baby. To ensure the corruptive influence of the internet would not have any impact upon the fetus, the man turned off the internet connection to his entire apartment complex.

The unnamed man that lived on the first floor of a Fuqi Road apartment in the Jin’an District of Fuzhou made numerous requests to his neighbors: don’t speak in public places, not to walk loudly, and to turn off the lights and go to bed at 9pm in order to preserve the silence that all growing babies need.

Mr Zhu, a neighbor that lives on the second floor, had tried to accommodate these requests. But when the main hub for internet connectivity on the first floor was repeatedly turned off for the entire building, Zhu confronted the man.

Mr Zhu explained the man’s motives:

The reason why he did it is because he heard someone say that WiFi is a source of radiation. Since the main internet switchboard is located by his apartment, this contains radiation, and so he needs to have this turned off.

Another case reported recently involved a man knocking on neighbors doors to request them to turn off their WiFi routers so as not to harm his unborn baby. Furthermore, the man wanted to gain entry to his neighbors’ homes so that he can visually confirm that they’ve turned off their blinking lights of doom.

What’s up with all this talk of radiation? Even if WiFi is harmful, what’s the concern over babies?

As any astute watcher of Chinese soap operas will know, pregnant Chinese women are extremely susceptible to miscarriages. Whether it is falling into a lake, off a chair, or on a bar of soap that O’Brian left behind, just about any known phenomenon is liable to cause a Chinese woman to miscarry.

With this in mind, one of the greatest dangers to public health at present in China is radiation. The Fukushima meltdown prompted Chinese consumers to panic purchase salt in droves in the belief it can counteract the effects of radiation. Cacti are commonly placed near computers in China in order to absorb radiation given off from the monitor.

Due to the omnipresent threat of radiation, this is the reason you will often see Chinese women walking around with an apron-like garment (like this one); it isn’t to make them look more domestically-docile, but rather to better protect the fetus from all the deadly radiation that is modern world.

Therefore, the people in these stories are only acting out of the best interests of their unborn babies with the purest of intentions. So just think: every time you go online, you’re hurting someone.

One. Click. At. A. Time.

* Even though the Nanfang is published on the internet, we still recommend the optimal media for reading our blogs to be on leather-bound editions of chiaroscuro.

Photo: Baike

The post Man Turns Off Internet to Building Because WiFi is “Radioactive” appeared first on The Nanfang.

While some pharmaceutical companies place ads, one Shenzhen hospital has gone one step further: offering a special promotional price on the cost of abortions, specifically to migrant workers.

The Shenzhen Beautiful People Professional Abortion Clinic has launched a page on its website explaining that women are beautiful, but sometimes one-night stands bad things happen.  When they do, they might want to be aware that there’s a special promotional price on abortions: only RMB 480.

The advertisement doesn’t specifically state the promotional price is aimed to coincide with the Spring Festival, but a quick glance at the calendar shows it does.

Abortion in China doesn’t carry the same stigma it does in western countries. In fact, China leads the world when it comes to abortions, with 13 million performed annually (that’s 25 a minute).

The post Things you don’t normally see ads for: CNY specials on abortions in Shenzhen appeared first on The Nanfang.