Grandma at 36: woman in China triggers early marriage debate with video post celebrating teenage son’s first child, racking up 240 million views
- A video post on social media about a woman becoming a grandma at 36 after her teenage son has his first child stirs marriage age debate in China
- Zhang’s eldest son, the newborn’s father, is only 18 years old, meaning he and his wife are not eligible to legally register their marriage
A Chinese woman’s proud online video post about becoming a grandmother at age 36, has started a heated national debate about early marriage and parenthood, with more than 240 million views on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform.
On July 11, the woman, surnamed Zhang, posted a video on Douyin of herself outside a maternity ward waiting for the birth of her grandchild in Nanyang, Henan province, central China.
“Welcome to the new life,” Zhang captioned the video. “Hope that all of the efforts are worthwhile.”
As the newborn’s father, Zhang’s eldest son, is only 18 years old, he and his wife could not legally register their marriage in China. Currently, the minimum age for marriage is 22 for men and 20 for women.
On July 13, Zhang posted another video and said: “I am officially a grandmother now. I was born in the 1980s and have not had the time to be filial to my parents or to perform my motherly duties, and I am now a grandmother.
“I should be with my seven-year-old son right now helping him get to sleep, but instead I’m taking care of my newborn grandson.”
The video unexpectedly went viral, and started a heated debate online in China about whether getting married and having children at a young age should be encouraged.
