begin quote from:
(Newser)
– China's one-child policy may have been abolished last October, but
it's still having widespread repercussions in the country, where older
and older women are risking pregnancy to …
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By Michael Harthorne, Newser Staff
Posted Jul 9, 2016 4:55 PM CDT
|
(Newser)
–
China's one-child policy may have been abolished last October,
but it's still having widespread repercussions in the country, where
older and older women are risking pregnancy to have a second child, the Telegraph reports. According to China Daily,
a 61-year-old woman named Zhang gave birth via C-section June 27. She's
believed to be China's second oldest mother ever, behind only a
62-year-old woman who gave birth last May. Less than a week before Zhang
had her baby boy, a 54-year-old woman named Liu Hongmei gave birth to
her own baby boy. Both Zhang and Hongmei lost their only children—to
illness and a traffic accident—two years ago.
Chinese people rely heavily on
their children for support, both monetarily and personally, when they
get older. But the one-child policy has left an estimated 1 million
families childless after their only offspring passed away. For those
childless families, including approximately 335,000 women over 49, the
future isn't promising. That's why many older couples want the
government to fund in vitro fertilization treatments. But officials and
doctors aren't eager to do that. One hospital director says older women
attempting to have another child face increased risks of miscarriage and
birth defects. He also worries about parents trying to raise children
while in their 70s. Zhang's was anything but an easy pregnancy and
birth, but both her and her new child appear to be doing well. 
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