President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) became a proud grandfather yesterday when his daughter Chen Hsin-yu (陳幸妤) gave birth to a healthy baby boy, born on the same month, day and hour as the president on the lunar calendar.
After visiting the hospital, first lady Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍), who said she dreamed about her grandson several times during her trip to the US last month, showed reporters a picture of the newborn, Chao Yi-an (趙翊安).
Doctors at National Taiwan University said Chao was born at around 7am yesterday by Caesarean section, two weeks before his due date. He weighed 2.518kg.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-TE, TAIPEI TIMES
A smiling Chen Shui-bian accepted well-wishers' congratulations yesterday.
When asked by reporters about how he felt about becoming a grandfather for the first time, the smiling president said he wanted to share his joy with the nation and thank the public for their blessings.
"My grandson's birthday comes just before Double Ten Day. I would like to share both the nation's celebrations and my family's celebrations with the people of this country," Chen said.
"As a father, I'm sorry that Hsin-yu had to have a Caesarean section. But she decided she needed to because she was just admitted to the National Taiwan University's dentistry institute [for her master's] and she wants to be able to manage both her family and her studies and not fall too far behind in school," he said.
Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘), the president's son-in-law, stressed that it was just a coincidence that the baby's birth fell on the on same month, day and hour as the president's on the lunar calendar.
He said that his wife was simply looking for an "auspicious" day when she chose the date and yesterday fell into that category.
As for his son's name, Chao Chien-ming said that was also left up to his wife.
"The baby's name was chosen by Hsin-yu. As for who he resembles, I think he looks like both of us, but he looks a bit more like me," Chao told reporters.
Report of the planned operation sparked some debate earlier, with proponents of natural birth accusing the first family of fanning superstition.
Many women in Taiwan choose Caesarean deliveries because the operations allow them to pick an auspicious time for the birth.
Many Taiwanese believe the exact time of birth can decide a person's future.
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