A struggling couple in Shenzhen, China, got slammed online after asking for donations to pay for medical bills after giving birth to quadruplets. The parents already had two daughters, making their family unit double in size overnight. 

The mother, Li, delivered four baby girls at the Shenzhen Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital in Guangdong province. Due to being born prematurely, the newborns had to be placed in intensive care, with medical costs estimated at $28,000.

Both Li and her husband, Chen, are low-income workers, and while their country’s social security program is expected to reimburse 80% of the costs, they must first cover the expenses out of pocket.

As news of the parents’ plea went viral on social media, Chinese netizens criticized them for being “careless” and for continuing to have kids despite their financial struggles.

A struggling family from China was criticized online for asking for monetary aid after having quadruplets despite already having two daughters

Image credits: Douyin

News of the couple’s situation spread quickly on Chinese social media, with over 10 million views on Douyin, the Asian country’s TikTok equivalent.

Far from having an empathetic reception, commenters held the parents responsible for their situation due to the mother revealing she had known she was going to have quadruplets since the very beginning.

Image credits: Douyin

Doctors informed her of the status of her children two months into the pregnancy, offering to abort some of the embryos to lighten their financial burden. The couple denied the offer, wanting to have all four of their babies.

“They are being irresponsible. If they were aware they could not afford it, why did they choose to give birth to all of the quadruplets?” one user asked.

The parents’ situation became even more complicated after the wife had to quit her job to take care of the newborns, leaving the family with half their monthly funds

Image credits: 21zere

Chen explained that he and his wife were co-workers for a company in Shenzhen and that their combined income was around $1,400 a month. His wife, however, had to quit the job in order to take care of the babies, cutting their household income in half.

According to Statista, the estimated cost of living in Shenzhen for a family of four is up to $2,100 a month, way above what the couple made jointly. Now that their unit has grown to eight members, Chen, as the sole provider, is desperate for help.

Image credits: freestocks.org

“I just don’t have 200,000 yuan. I’m an ordinary employee with a meager income. I feel helpless. I hope society will help us,” said Chen to local media. “I am happy for the birth of my quadruplet babies, but I am also concerned. How can we raise them?”

Officials from the Shenzhen Women’s Federation came to the couple’s aid and said they could apply for their Woman and Child Aid Fund, which could help them with $280 a year.

“I am out of ideas and the stress is overbearing. I hope society can provide us with some help,” Chen continued.

Local netizens theorized that the continued insistence of Li and Chen on having children despite their situation might be due to the fact that they haven’t been able to conceive a son

Image credits: Yan Krukau

Male preference is a known phenomenon in China. A 1998 study published by the Guttmacher Institute explains that the phenomenon stems from a desire to “raise children to fight against aging,” that is, to ensure a parent is taken care of as they grow old.

As boys are expected to take care of inheritance and girls are expected to join their husbands’ families, raising a daughter is seen as a “waste of one’s efforts” due to the girl eventually going away. This was exacerbated due to the since-deposed one-child policy implemented in the country in 1979.

Image credits: 21zere

Another study called Forty Million Missing Girls by Laurel Bossen explores the issue of sex-selective abortions, which led to the city of Guiyang banning them in January 2005.

Following numerous government initiatives to reduce the sex-ratio imbalance in the country, which in 2000 had 119 males for every 100 females, the number has stabilized, with only 104 males per 100 females as of 2023, according to Statista.

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As news of the couple spread on Chinese social media, users argued whether their decision to go forward with the quadruple pregnancy was a responsible decision

Image credits: 21zere

Upon viewing the news of the couple’s issue on Douyin, users debated whether keeping the babies was a good idea.

Some valued the couple’s determination, but others said that they were stubborn and should not get to ask for government support after knowing the risks involved.

“They must feel stretched just raising two children with a gross monthly income of 10,000 yuan living in Shenzhen. What gave them the courage to have more babies?” asked one user.

“The authorities can offer them big support. It’s a great opportunity to encourage people to have babies, isn’t it?” said another.

Li and Chen have yet to respond to their critics or their allegations.

Currency and comments were translated from their Chinese counterparts to English for this article.

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