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China Elevator Stories
A girlfriend, a fight and an accidental pregnancy
My husband’s friend is planning to marry his pregnant girlfriend.
27/11/2014
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
Remember my husband’s friend who works as a trainer at a gym in Shenzhen? Let’s call him S. A few months ago, S had been considering breaking up with his girlfriend.
In June 2014, S tells my husband that his girlfriend is pregnant. The pregnancy was unplanned, but S is ready to take responsibility and marry her. He even asks us about where we had our pre-wedding photos taken and how much we paid.
However, when we later see pictures of S and his girlfriend on WeChat, we’re taken aback. The woman in the photos isn’t the same one he introduced to us as his girlfriend just a few months earlier.
As it turns out, S had still been with the girlfriend we knew a few weeks earlier. After a heated argument, he became so upset that he met up with another woman. What started as one night together turned into a few more, and within two weeks, the new woman was pregnant. This is how S and the new girlfriend decided to get married.
I’m not sure what happened to girlfriend #1. I assume they broke up.
Have you ever heard a similar story?
Explanation:
In China, children born out of wedlock cannot be legally registered in the household registration system (hukou). Without hukou, children are unable to attend public kindergarten and school or access social insurance. This is one of the reasons why many couples choose to marry when the woman becomes pregnant.