How rule changes and financial independence is helping unmarried women to keep their babies.
China correspondent
That there is no father in Heng Heng's life would be frowned upon by many in China, especially in more conservative rural and regional areas. The belief that a child should not be brought into this world without a mother and a father is still widely held here. "My feelings? I was heartbroken," she says. "It's very hard to raise a kid on your own. And, in our hometown, there would be criticism from neighbours.""Now I see him, I'm really happy," she says with a huge smile on her face.
Before 2016, the government effectively prohibited this from happening by stopping officials from issuing birth approval certificates, without seeing proof of marriage for the father and mother. These two things have now supposedly changed but, in practice, an employer must apply on behalf of a staff member for the benefits to kick in - and some companies are still refusing to do it.
"But, in terms of implementation, it is not smooth," she says. "Why? Because many people still can't understand, and are not tolerant towards, single mothers.""China's regulations are designed for married couples," she adds. "Marriage is the pre-condition. Single parents are still a new thing here and represent a way of thinking which is very different to our traditional ethical norms".
The 30-year-old says the time wasn't right for marriage when she accidentally became pregnant with her much younger boyfriend, but that she wanted to keep her baby.
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