Mainland pregnant women studying in Hong Kong: For the sake of their children, the master's degree decided to go to Hong Kong to study tertiary education
For a long time, education has been regarded by middle-class parents as an important channel for class mobility, and it is also deeply bound to "freedom". After the Hong Kong government announced the abolition of the quota limit for talents this year, Hong Kong visas instantly attracted a large number of middle-class people in first- and second-tier cities in the mainland.
A large part of them, the purpose of fighting for Hong Kong identity is to find a shortcut for their children. Obtaining a visa is only the first step in the plan, and the ultimate goal is to use the rules to renew the visa in Hong Kong for 7 years, obtain Hong Kong permanent residence status, and make the next generation eligible to participate in the "400-point Tsinghua" Overseas Chinese Students Joint Examination (DSE, also known as Hong Kong's "college entrance examination").
Today we tell a more special version, Xiao Liu, a post-90s girl from the mainland, in order to give the next generation a less narrow future, "when the child is not even a fertilized egg" she has begun to plan for things more than ten years later.
In order to mix with Hong Kong temporary status, and then give birth in Hong Kong logically, the child will be a Hong Kong permanent resident on landing. Xiao Liu, who has a postgraduate degree, decided to go to Hong Kong to study tertiary education. Because of some accidents, her wish could not be fulfilled, experienced the panic of emergency fetal protection, the painful struggle in the delivery room, experienced the ups and downs of her heart at the moment of the birth of a new life, and she also had a new understanding of everything she was attached to.
Here's what she said:
"Hong Kong Bao" dream shattered, turned into "Shenzhen Bao"
It's been a full week since the mail was delivered, and I refresh my mailbox every day as soon as I go to work, and there is still no progress. After a difficult weekend, I couldn't help but dial the school phone on Monday, and waited for the automatic broadcast of Cantonese for a long time before the teacher connected me. He replied to me in Mandarin, and the college leaders already knew about my situation and were discussing answering the email.
He said that considering that I was nearly 28 weeks pregnant and it was inconvenient to go to school, even if the application was submitted to the immigration bureau, the Hong Kong government would not issue me a visa, and they did not submit it due to comprehensive factors, and decided to extend the validity of my offer until next year. The implication is that I can't read a book. Although I had been prepared, my heart was still half cold when I heard this nightmare from the other person's mouth.
I know that at this point, a dream of the "Hong Kong Treasure Landing Plan" that has been planned for more than two years has been officially shattered.
After hanging up the phone, I touched my stomach and apologetically told my two children: I'm sorry, your life is going to turn on hard mode. It's not that you came early, but my mother is not well prepared, if you started applying last year, maybe now "the light boat has passed ten thousand mountains". But then again, last year's situation was a different world, and it was difficult to cross the city, not to mention exiting the country. At this point, I can only smile bitterly, it is in people to do things, and it seems that God will not let me live, and I can only accept it.
Two months later, I successfully gave birth to twins in my hometown of the mainland, and on the day of delivery, more than a dozen adults came to take pictures and send friends around the children, celebrating the great happy event of not importing Ding in the family for twenty or thirty years. Only I have a complicated mood, originally two Hong Kong babies, now I can only become Shenzhen baby (my household registration is in Shenzhen), a river away, life is very different - "Hong Kong Bao" easily went to the eight universities (eight public universities in Hong Kong), "Shenzhen Bao" high school entrance examination has to flow into technical schools.
So when the child is not even a fertilized egg, I have to worry about things more than ten years later. In fact, I have no filter on Hong Kong, I have been in Shenzhen for six or seven years, and before the lockdown, I often went shopping with friends on weekends across the river in Shenzhen. At first, I felt fresh, but then I got used to it, and the "cosmopolitan city" was disenchanted.
I want to give birth to my child in Hong Kong purely for the future college entrance examination. Children can take the DES exam as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan compatriots in the future, and they can explore famous schools that are unattainable on weekdays with 400 points. Even if I don't go back to school in the mainland, the chances of getting into the Eighth University are much higher than 985, which is my motivation.
More than a decade ago, many Guangdong mothers transferred to Hong Kong to give birth, leading the Hong Kong government to revise the policy so that one of the parents of the child must hold Hong Kong identity in order to land smoothly. For this reason, I went to Hong Kong to attend junior college, which I had already studied as a graduate student, just to get my identity so that my child could be justified.
I looked at the house, found a hospital, and communicated smoothly with the school before and after, not admitting that the fact that I was pregnant with the school honestly aggravated their concerns. So before I could get to the immigration office, the school rejected me first. Since I was a child, adhering to the principle of "everything is predetermined", I usually have a plan for doing things, and I rarely miss a hand, but I did not expect that I would lose my feet in the step of giving birth. As soon as I think of this, I can't wait to give myself a few big mouths.
During confinement, from the time I knew it wasn't going to work out until confinement, I was immersed in a low mood due to the decline in progesterone. The more I think children are cute, the more I feel sorry for them, as I say on the Internet, "Life is so hard, why give birth to children to share the suffering with you." ”
The decision of the "Small Town Mistake Book"
Speaking of which, my husband and I are also international young people with a "global perspective". Eight years ago, when I was a freshman in college, I saved up a semester to travel to Southeast Asia, and I went abroad for the first time, and I met him in a hotel who was running out to play during the same work interval, and since then we have become donkey friends and walked together for a few days. After separating, we kept in touch with WeChat and gradually came together.
The travel circle is small, and among the topics we often talk about, there are friends we know together, some of whom have gone to the United States and Canada to have children. I have also met many cross-border students in Shenzhen who learn small languages at a young age. I thought it was because of the good conditions, until Xiao Wang, who lived with me in a hostel, also obtained a Canadian visa with a technical school degree, and then got married and got pregnant, I didn't know the doorway here.
Xiao Wang is a native of Longyan, Fujian, and they are also half a hometown of overseas Chinese, and many of her relatives and friends are overseas, and they are very well-informed. She mysteriously told me that the reason why she went to great lengths to go to North America was to have children. "Canadians are Canadians who are born with a milk powder fee until they are 18 years old. There is almost no cost to raise children, return to China to study to enjoy 9 years of compulsory education, high school for three years, university to take the Chinese test can go to Tsinghua, even if you return to Canada to study, you are a citizen, do not need tuition..."
In Xiao Wang's eloquent calculation, having a child turned out to be a net profit. Especially the last point, it's really exciting. My husband and I are not low in education, a master's degree and a doctorate, but we can be born in the four provinces of mountains and rivers in the hell mode of the college entrance examination. Only we know how we crossed this one-log bridge.
I grew up in a rural area, and my parents' highest education was in the first grade of junior high school, so they couldn't give me any help with my studies, and I didn't even have a quiet learning environment at home. In order to study, I often read words and write homework alone in a cold room without heating in winter, wrapped in a quilt. The hands and feet are all frostbite, and they recur after three or nine days, and they often itch and are difficult to resist hot drilling. On the way to junior high school, I never chatted with my friends in the same village, and I was always one person endorsing. But the school's educational resources are too poor, the teachers speak native language in class, even if the grades are at the top in the town, I am only at the middle and lower levels when I go to high school in the city.
When I was in high school, I couldn't keep up with math, and the tuition fee for a make-up class was 100, and I was distressed about the money to buy my own exercise book to do; In winter, before six o'clock in the classroom, I often light the first light in the entire building. Even so, he barely scored 500 points in the college entrance examination and went to Guangdong Erben, which is 108,000 miles away from home. I have never been a gifted student, and I put in 200% of my efforts when I entered graduate school, and my results were still mediocre.
On the Internet, children like us don't even deserve to be called "small-town problem makers", let alone "wrong question collections". On the other hand, my college roommate, her father is a civil servant in customs, and her mother is a doctor in Shenzhen Public Hospital, as soon as she graduated, her family guided her to enter the public examination, and soon entered the health system, found a high school classmate, and lived a worry-free life.
The biggest inspiration from my past life experience is that the biggest watershed in life is reincarnation, and children are living parents. I know that the limit of my efforts is to be a normal person, and after 20 years of more involuted education, my children will not be better than me.
So in the very depressing years, I watched Xiao Wang's nourishing life on the other side of the ocean through the circle of friends and found that people were prescient. Fortunately, I am young, and it is not too late to prepare. Since 2021, I have returned to my hometown in the mainland from Shenzhen, preparing for marriage with my boyfriend and preparing for IELTS, hoping to copy Xiao Wang's route to give future generations a way out.
Race against time to get your identity
The implementation of the plan was very difficult, because for well-known reasons, the IELTS test was cancelled many times, and the tourist visa in the United States and Canada was stopped for a long time, even if I submitted the application queue at that time, it was necessary to queue for more than half a year, and my way to "black past" to have a child was also broken. On the other hand, my wedding date was repeatedly cancelled by the hotel, and seeing that things were not progressing for a year, I decided to study in Hong Kong in 2022.
"Since you can't go abroad, Hong Kong is also the best choice," said the Hong Kong government, due to the brain drain, was announcing the abolition of talent quotas to attract mainland talents. I think it is an opportunity, Hong Kong is close to home, easy to travel, really in the past to give birth to a child and there are people to take care of.
Economic considerations are also important factors. If I had taken the most common pathway of talent introduction, it would not only take me 7 years, but also travel back and forth to Hong Kong as a family. The financial and energy costs involved are high. And according to statistics, only one in ten people with excellent talents can finally get permanent residence.
If not, two children, school district housing, living expenses, interest classes, are not a small expense, go to Hong Kong to study in Hong Kong treasure, can save a considerable extent, at least in the top middle schools in my hometown province, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan students are exempt from examination.
My English was very poor, and I had little hope of applying for graduate school, so I began to retreat to apply for a local associate degree, which is equivalent to a domestic junior college. In the past, this was a way for children from the mainland who could not go to university to go to Hong Kong to save the country, and now it is also packaged by study abroad agents as a shortcut to their identity. I don't have so much money to ask someone to plan, so I can only check DIY by school by myself.
According to the plan, I will submit my application in March 2023, conduct an interview in April-May, get an offer in June, and run to Hong Kong in August to exchange a student's ID card (Hong Kong status is divided into two types: resident and permanent resident, the former can be obtained by studying for seven years, and the latter needs to stay for seven years), and I can prepare for pregnancy and have children after September. It's a pity that the plan can't keep up with the changes.
At the end of last year, an old Chinese medicine doctor diagnosed my pulse, saying that I was born with a weak uterus, cold body, and it was not easy to get pregnant, so I made a long-term plan. I started preparing for pregnancy in advance, but I didn't expect that when I submitted the materials in February, I learned that I was pregnant, and I was pregnant with identical twins, a 1 in a thousand chance! When I learned the news on the B ultrasound bed, I was excited and worried, excited that I had two at once, it was really good luck; The worry is that the child's arrival time conflicts with the application, and I don't know if I can pass it smoothly.
Two, can't bear to get rid of, but also worried that after beating off, it will be harmful to the body and can't get pregnant again. I continued to apply for the study according to the plan, but the time was more urgent. In order to increase the odds of success, I was still carefully selected at the beginning of the school, and I did not refuse to come instantly, as long as I enrolled in the university, I would invest in resumes, literature, social work, insurance, news... But whenever the major I studied can have a little to do with my past, I will send an application, and the self-introduction is written sincerely, as if it is really a "awakening of women who want to pursue themselves in their thirties", and the actual purpose I am ashamed to express.
Seeing my belly getting bigger and bigger, I became more and more anxious. Finally, in April, I received online written interviews from two international colleges in Hong Kong. English is not good, I began to memorize interview related questions and answers two weeks in advance, "Why do you come to study for an associate degree after grad school", "Briefly talk about your future plans in Hong Kong", "Where are your advantages in reading this major", Compared with the experience sent by the seniors on Xiaohongshu, I typed 6 pages of questions on A4 paper and translated them into English, hoping to be foolproof.
Drowsiness during pregnancy, slow response, easy to get tired of anything, in order to cope with this exam I put a lot of work, go to work when I have free time, have to go through it before going to bed, and let my husband spot check me. Facing the camera, I deliberately covered my body, constantly slowed down my speech to relieve tension, and the effort paid off, and I successfully passed the two interviews at both schools. It's just that the written math questions of the latter Top20 Hong Kong school are too difficult, I didn't understand it, and unfortunately I fell off the list.
As of July, I've only received one offer – even though Hong Kong has a low barrier to entry, people say it's "give money and let in." After getting the admission ticket, I quickly prepared the student visa materials. According to the Hong Kong government's regulations, I cannot enter the country at 28 weeks of pregnancy, and at this time I am already 26 weeks pregnant, and the time is very urgent. Application form, property certificate, degree certificate, busy all morning, I have calculated, the review time is a week, and when I get the visa, it will be wiped aside.
In order to race against time, my mailing materials were all sent to Hong Kong by expedited express delivery, and then I began to pray day and night, hoping to get through quickly. The refresh of the mailbox is planned by the minute, but unfortunately after waiting for a week and there is no news, I called in a panic to ask for verification, which caused a big mistake.
A foot in the door
That day, I wanted to ask the teacher if I needed to repeat the course if I delayed my enrollment because of pregnancy. In fact, this is also what I really care about, I thought that since I had paid for it, I wanted to finish the book, but I didn't expect the teacher to directly ask how long I was pregnant, I explained truthfully, the other party did not say anything on the spot, just said that if needed, you can give me an extension, otherwise the credit pressure will make me just after giving birth I can't cope. Unexpectedly, because of this concern, the teacher did not help me submit the materials to apply for a visa.
I believe she was well-intentioned, "If you are exactly 28 weeks old when you enter the country, even if you have a student visa, you will be refused entry, and maybe you will be blacklisted, and it will be difficult for you to study in the future" I understood and thanked and hung up the phone, knowing that the matter was settled. In fact, I have seen seniors share in Xiaohongshu that even pregnant women under 28 weeks of age will experience customs interrogation and repatriation, not to mention a pot-bellied woman like me with a student card, there is no problem in procedure, and the purpose is Sima Zhao's heart. Even if you get a visa and walk to the gate, whether you can enter smoothly depends on the assessment of customs.
My husband advised me to forget it, twins are originally high-risk pregnancies, I have been seriously pregnant because of excessive pressure, and it is more important to take care of my body and let the child be born safely than anything else. I promised with my lips, but my heart was still very unwilling. After all, unlike other people's clapping decisions, I really thought about it for a long time. Unable to resolve this loss, I complained to Xiao Wang across the Pacific Ocean. When she heard this, she felt sorry for me and turned into a think tank to give me ideas.
"I know that some people specialize in weddings, introduce Hong Kong men to get married, as long as you notarize that you are "single non" (the child's guardian is not registered in Hong Kong), you can give birth in a private hospital in Hong Kong, the cost may be a little more expensive, get married 780,000, give birth to more than 100,000 children, but it is definitely better than you returning to the mainland", she continued to add, this is the legendary fake marriage, several of her previous relatives also obtained Hong Kong household registration in this way.
"The premise is that you have to divorce your husband first, and the Hong Kong men you find are mostly uncles who lack money, and there may be legal risks if you are found," Xiao Wang also enthusiastically said that he would recommend acquaintances to me if needed. After hearing it, I gasped, I had heard that Fujianese people were famous for "global settlement", but I didn't expect to do everything. Suddenly, I thought of a story I had read before, about mothers who went to the United States to give birth to children around the world trudged hard at the Mexican border, were chased by the police and caused premature birth, their hands were still touching the border when their will was blurred, and when their children fell to the ground, they finally became "Mabel".
I love children, and I don't take risks, and after thanking the dog-headed military master for his kindness, I reluctantly accepted the reality. Just two weeks later, I was glad I didn't go to Hong Kong, otherwise my child's life would have been in danger.
Reconcile with yourself
The routine prenatal examination once a month became bi-weekly in the later stage, and the doctor in the shooting of B-ultrasound sighed "It seems that a child is not growing up". My heart pounded, and I had a bad premonition. I found an expert to see that the two children who were similar in size last time have now had a significant difference, the weight difference from 40g to 400g, the doctor told me that identical twins use the same placenta, it is easy to occur twin transfusion syndrome, that is, the twins have uneven nutritional distribution so grab nutrition, one is overnourished, one is malnourished, resulting in two children can not be born.
The hospital arranged for me to be urgently hospitalized to protect the fetus, listen to the fetal heart rate every day to measure blood pressure, and if there is an emergency caesarean section. At that time, the pregnancy was only more than 7 months, and the child was also arranged to live in an incubator after birth, and I didn't know how long it would take to be discharged from the hospital. I am glad later, fortunately in my hometown, there are plenty of people, and the hospital also knows people who can give more care. If you are in Hong Kong, where you are not familiar with life, public hospitals are afraid that they will have to wait until the land is deserted, and the cost of private hospitals is unimaginable. Coupled with the hard work, whether the child can keep it or not, in case there is a three long and two short, then everything I do is meaningless.
I stayed like this for more than ten days, prayed with fear every day, and was relieved to hear from the doctor that my signs were stable and I could be discharged from the hospital. After so many days in the hospital, I realized that a piece of paper in front of life was really not worth mentioning. Listening to the fetal heart beating every day, I think the children are also telling me that I chose to be a mother because I am good, not because I can plan for many years later.
After returning home to recuperate cautiously for more than a month, I finally survived to 37 weeks, and the day I went to the hospital coincided with the Qixi Festival of the Lunar calendar. I was pushed into the operating room, the anesthesia made me confused, and many fragments flashed through my mind, I remembered how I looked when I first met my husband, I remembered the way my father took me by the hand and sent me into the auditorium at the wedding, and I remembered the way my family ate and chatted and laughed under the locust tree when I was a child...
I thought it didn't matter if I died now, outside the operating room across the wall, there were people I loved the most, as long as they were okay, everything was fine. I suddenly found that utilitarian education made me forget that life is a journey, and in the most important moments of life, I did not entangle what my parents gave me, nor did I recall my own suffering, and my mind recalled those moments of being loved, I love them, they love me, maybe this is the meaning of my next life.
With a powerful press, soon my thoughts were broken by a cry. The voice was so small, so fragile, and the child came smoothly in the blood and water. Seven minutes later, another child was born, judging by the crying that it was very healthy, and the midwife wrapped the two children and carried them to me, looking at their small appearance, and before I knew it, I was already in tears. Ignorantly, I became a mother.
At last
I learned later that since the policy was liberalized, the mainland middle class has flocked to Hong Kong, and the total number of outstanding talents approved this year alone has exceeded the total of the past decade. The exchange appointment for ID card has been scheduled for next year, that is, even if I get a student visa to enter Hong Kong smoothly, I can't change my identity, and I can't get a household registration after giving birth in Hong Kong. And even if you get the identity, when this child grows up to the age of the college entrance examination, DSE is estimated to have already risen and there are not enough advantages. It's hard to say whether these results deviate from the original intention.
After reconciling with mixed emotions, I now set my sights on a doctorate, and when my child turns one next year, I will apply for a doctorate in domestic sociology. I hope that in the future, I will bring my two children back to our province by introducing talents to obtain some modest advantages in education (some of our local colleges and universities can arrange children's enrollment and solve spouse work, etc.). Although I know that this is also a more volley path that can be seen. And what can you do as a parent? What we can choose is nothing more than a life that wants to have more choices.
Editor|Kandy
This article is reproduced from Guan Twenty
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