To mark Mother’s Day, the Kaohsiung City Government has recognized Yang Huang Mei-hsiu (楊黃梅秀), who had nine daughters over 16 years, as an outstanding mother.
Yang Huang, 82, said she was pressured by her family to give birth to a son at a time when the preference for boys over girls was deeply and culturally embedded in Taiwanese society.
However, she never did.
After her oldest daughter married and became a mother herself, she gave up trying to get pregnant in the hope of having a son, Yang Huang said.
“I was afraid of giving birth. I was so afraid that I cried,” she said at an event organized by the city government to recognize outstanding mothers ahead of Mother’s Day, which falls on May 14 this year.
She said that whenever a baby girl cried in the hospital, she could not stop tears from welling up in her eyes as she gave birth to one baby after another, with only rice and pork floss as sustenance.
Yang Huang said she made every effort to provide for her daughters, who later had careers in medicine and education.
Seeing her daughters living good lives with their husbands pleases her, she said.
Despite being in her 80s, Yang Huang is an active member of her community and takes part in charity events. She is known among her neighbors for being passionate and willing to help others.
Yang Huang’s large family is in contrast with today’s Taiwanese society; in 2015, the total fertility rate was 1.175 births per woman, according to data compiled by the Ministry of the Interior.
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