Never Seen a Pregnant Chinese Woman Or Asian Women Lay Eggs?

Never Seen a Pregnant Chinese Woman or Asian Women Lay Eggs is a perception referenced in memes and TikTok that Chinese women don’t get pregnant or conceive children. The idea is false and offensive.

Chinese women over 30 who are single feel pressure to marry, and it’s reinforced by state media. They’re also excluded from tax breaks and housing credits – reserved for married couples.

1. They are not comfortable with it

For centuries, Chinese pregnancy traditions have been shaped by cultural beliefs, superstitions and philosophical principles like Taoism, Confucianism and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In many cases, these restrictions were designed to ensure the health of both mother and child.

For example, women are advised not to drink cold drinks because they can cause miscarriage or even death. They are also not allowed to eat certain foods because they can harm the baby. They are required to cut their hair short because long hair steals nutrients from the fetus. They must also avoid walking in the rain and consuming pineapple and watermelon, because they can trigger miscarriage.

In addition, some Chinese women have found that it’s not always easy to reconcile pregnancy with their work life. They have reported being sidelined, demoted or replaced by their employers upon returning from maternity leave. All these taboos make some women feel trapped and unable to escape. They might even feel ambivalent about becoming mothers.

2. They don’t want to get pregnant

Despite their belief in filial piety, some Chinese women feel that it is not right for them to bear children. As inequality rises, the cost of raising a child becomes untenable and the long-term consequences of climate change loom, many are asking themselves whether it is really necessary to reproduce.

It is also difficult to reconcile pregnancy with work life, and many women find that when they return from maternity leave, they are sidelined or demoted by their employers. Additionally, there are taboos surrounding eating certain foods and drinking cold drinks (pork is fine, pineapple is not) because they are believed to cause miscarriage. This adds up to a lot of pressure and anxiety, and some women decide that they don’t want to get pregnant.

3. They don’t want to get married

A growing number of Chinese women do not want to get married and have children, in part because they believe they can achieve greater success as single women than their male counterparts. The desire to be independent and in control of their own lives is also at play. Some young Chinese women are rejecting the pressure to marry, especially as family elders and government officials try to incentivize them to start a family.

A number of Chinese women also feel that the institution of marriage is outdated, and that a more egalitarian relationship might be more satisfying for them. This view is particularly prevalent among women who have studied abroad and who are accustomed to the more fluid and flexible nature of relationships in Western culture. In addition, a number of Chinese women have been raised without the same emphasis on Confucian values and filial piety as their parents’ generation, so marriage may seem less important to them.

Despite these views, some Chinese women still want to have children. But they are finding that many of the ways in which they can have children are limited by their choice to be unmarried. For example, a 30-year-old woman named Teresa Xu recently visited a hospital in Beijing to have her ovarian eggs frozen. She was there by herself, unlike the other female patients who were accompanied by their husbands or parents. Upon arriving, the doctor informed her that the facility only allows married women to have the procedure done.

In addition, it is still illegal in China to have a child out of wedlock. As a result, many Chinese women who choose not to get married are forced to make very difficult choices when it comes to having kids.

For instance, a 26-year-old university graduate in Shanghai told me that she refuses to get married and have children because “marriage in China is a living hell.” She said she would rather spend her time working to build a future that she can be proud of than trying to please her parents or find a man to marry.

4. They don’t want to have a baby

With most women of child-bearing age having experienced the gender screening and abortions of China’s one-child policy, and a host of other family planning restrictions including a ban on single mothers, many Chinese young people have little desire to have children. They aren’t alone: a survey last year found that two-thirds of urban Chinese women had low birth desires. Moreover, in a society governed by the idea of filial piety and traditional values, many young women feel they are putting themselves and their careers at risk by not having children. For example, 31-year-old Beijinger Lili* says she is not aiming to have kids because her mother would be “devastated.” Even with the government’s recent efforts to boost population numbers by offering tax breaks and housing credits for married couples with children, this isn’t enough to entice many young Chinese to have babies.

Additionally, many women find that balancing pregnancy with their careers is difficult and time off for maternity leave can be detrimental to their professional success. A number of Chinese women have reported being sidelined, demoted or replaced upon returning from maternity leave because of their employers’ concerns about the impact on the company’s bottom line.

Finally, many Chinese women also adhere to traditional health beliefs and superstitions about pregnancy. For example, it is considered bad luck to eat pineapple, which is believed to cause miscarriage.