The One-child policy was not born yet when I was. It was introduced only in 1979.
When I got married in 1989, I had to pick up a certificate at the same time (on the right of the cover photo). It is called the One-child certificate. It was a promise I had to make.
I did have two abortions before my daughter was born. The first was before my marriage, I didn't tell anyone. I went back to work two days later. The second was after I got married, on my 24th birthday. I got a week off. I took the train to another city to register for the TOEFL exam, an English exam that was required to study abroad. It was not really my intention but my then-husband wanted to study abroad so I had to tag along.
After the Tiananmen Square incident, the government changed the policy to say that all graduates had to either serve five years on the current job or pay the steep amount of money in order to go aboard. We did not have the money.
I had a steady government job. The pay was not much, under $200.00 Canadian dollars a month. We didn't have to pay rent though. I was given a two-bedroom apartment for free after 8 years of service. My mom said that she did not understand why we wanted to give up so many sure things to seek something uncertain aboard.
I was certain though that I would break that promise if my wish of having a boy would be granted.
My wish did come true on June 1, 1998. 😀😀😀
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