ABSTRACT
The chapter elucidates the influence of parents on women's marital and reproductive decisions. It examines the various forms of intergenerational interactions during the decision-making process of abortion. While the women seemed to enjoy high autonomy to explore sex and intimacy freely, the parents continued to interfere in their adult daughter's intimate life. The chapter shows that the bond between parents and their daughter is both affective and pragmatic, demonstrated by a maturing egalitarian element within the parent-daughter relationship and the sustained need for intergenerational inter-dependence necessitated by the increasingly neo-liberal way of life in the post-reform era. Under the influence of successive socioeconomic and family planning policies in the past four decades, the family remains individuals’ primary source of security, and family members, especially parents, are still regarded as the most trustworthy support.
