A mother in central China has aborted her second child after her teenage son threatened to quit school if she did not, according to local newspaper Chu Tian Golden News.
The 36-year-old woman in Wuhan, Hubei, whose family name is Liu, decided to have another child after the government changed its “one child” policy to a “two child” policy in October last year. She became pregnant by the end of the year.
However, Liu’s 14-year-old son, whom she did not consult about the possibility of having a sibling, was upset and said he would not take part in the high school entrance exam unless her mother gave up the child, the report said.
Unable to change his mind, the woman eventually succumbed to her son’s wish and went to the hospital last Saturday to have an abortion. She was accompanied by her husband and son, the newspaper said.
Li Xiong, a doctor at the Wuhan Wuchang Hospital who performed the surgery, said it was not uncommon for a mother to give up a second child due to opposition from the first child.
The case sparked heated public debate online. A forum with the hashtag #ForcingMumToAbortTheSecondChild was opened on Sina Weibo, the Chinese microblogging website, attracting more than 7,600 discussion threads.
Most commentators criticised the teenager for being selfish. However, others sympathised with the child, saying “the mother is selfish too” for putting responsibility on her son to take care of a much younger sibling.