A 76-year-old woman once dubbed China’s oldest mother of twins has returned to the spotlight after a photographic series chronicling her life recently won an international award.
Sheng Hailin, from Anhui province in central China, has also become a social media influencer with nearly one million followers, offering solace and inspiration to bereaved parents rebuilding their lives after loss.
Her only daughter, Tingting, and her newlywed husband died of carbon monoxide poisoning in 2009, according to China Youth Daily.
Grief-stricken and desperate to escape loneliness, Sheng underwent IVF treatment the following year at the age of 60.
Advertisement
The pregnancy was fraught with danger.
She suffered severe swelling and heavy bleeding before giving birth to twin daughters, Zhizhi and Huihui, in 2010, becoming China’s oldest woman to give birth at the time.
Advertisement
The twins gave Sheng and her husband a second chance at parenthood, but their birth also sparked national debate, with many questioning the couple’s finances and the children’s future.
