The Next Life

In May 2010, Ye Hongmei, a native of Dujiangyan city in Sichuan province, started her Odyssey to get pregnant again. Her 8-year-old daughter was killed in the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake, a catastrophe that killed and maimed more than 6000 children. Due to China’s one-child policy, most of the grieving families were left childless. Among them, about 5000 couples are planning to have new babies. This surge in child-birth has almost become a ritual where a new life is seen as the reincarnation of the lost one. Hongmei expressly wishes for a daughter. However, at age 40, pregnancy becomes an ordeal for her. Oviduct inflammation makes her chance of conceiving slim. Since she is reluctant to adopt a child, in vitro fertilization becomes her only option. To this end she has to bear extraordinary pains: she travels 50 miles every day just to receive injections and blood tests. Back home, she has to go through acupuncture treatment. This arduous process takes a toll on her health and she is on the brink of a break-down. While her husband takes good care of her at home, he is jobless and lives on unemployment compensation. He is also fond of drinking and smoking. Instead of showing unswerving love for his wife, he thinks of divorce when the prospects of Hongmei getting pregnant begin to dwindle. The government covers the two attempts by each couple to get in vitro fertilization but the couple has to bear all additional costs. There are other sources of grievances too: on the anniversary of the earthquake, the authorities tried to prevent parents from holding public memorial to remember their children. Among Hongmei’s female friends who likewise lost children in the earthquake, some got pregnant. Others didn’t. In either case, it could be a source of stress for her. Meanwhile she becomes increasingly concerned about her age. The weakening health and financial strains make her second in vitro fertilization attempt her last, with considerable risks. Can she make it?