ABSTRACT
At one time pregnancy and childbirth were women’s unique and most important contribution to the continuation of the family and to its economy. Repeated pregnancies with their associated hazards occupied a considerable period of a woman’s life. Whereas childbirth remains a woman’s unique contribution to the continuation of the family, it no longer dominates her existence in the developed countries, including Hong Kong, where the desire to produce many children has given way to the aim of producing one or two who will be upwardly mobile. The decline of the pronatalist ethos of the Chinese, combined with the availability of effective contraception has reduced the birthrate in Hong Kong to one of the lowest in the world. From a figure of 35 births per thousand population in the 1960s, it is currently 12 per thousand. This means a total fertility rate per woman of 1.3. (Hong Kong Social and Economic Trends 1982–1992, Census and Statistics Department 1993). Despite a lingering preference for sons over daughters, this preference does not seem to be strong enough for most parents of daughters to continue to have children in order to try to have a son. Clearly there are other priorities such as being able to give one’s children a good education, and a decent material standard of living. It is generally now considered hard work to bring up children.
