Ariana Stories

Reproductive issues are not always as clear cut as the results on a pregnancy test. Ariana invited four experts to explore four ethical questions, from the legitimacy of abortions in instances of rape or disabilities to controversies surrounding human genome-editing, and a father's responsibility. Each expert shared valuable insights in their area of expertise while touching on how these decisions impact the wellbeing of the mother, child, family and community as a whole. 

For many students in Macao, progressive sexuality education is off the table due to pervasive religious influences across the city's school system. Many religiously affiliated schools saturate sex education lessons with religious beliefs and traditional gender conventions. By touting conservative viewpoints, these schools fail to meet the needs of modern youth, educate children about diversity and prepare them to make informed decisions in life. 

"What if, instead of focusing so much on creating more humans, we invested more in being better humans?" asks author Tanja Wessels in her personal essay on why she chose to be child-free. The writer and environmentalist delves deep into the concept of motherhood and society's unhealthy fixation on babies, often at the expense of other valuable members of society and the environment. 

Egg-freezing offers women greater reproductive freedom, but does it come at a cost? In this in-depth feature, Anna Simpson interviews a woman who froze her eggs in Taiwan, explores success rates post-harvest, compares prices around the world and highlights often-overlooked side effects, effectively pulling back the layers of one of the world's most rapidly growing reproductive services. 

For many women, India’s surrogacy programme has led to greater financial empowerment. But the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2019 aims to end to the practice. Author Rhea Mogul visited a prestigious surrogacy clinic in the Gujarat state to speak with surrogates about the law's implications and how surrogacy changed their lives.  

In this intimate feature, Ruby Lai shares the personal stories of three young women in Hong Kong who chose to have abortions – a painful decision that was made more challenging due to long wait times, judgment from doctors and pervasive social stigma. To avoid judgment, one young woman attended a black-market abortion clinic, which could have seriously endangered her health. Lai examines the system's shortcomings, as well as the NGOs who are supporting young women in need.

Hong Kong’s health care provisions are failing transgender patients. Shedding light on an often-overlooked issue, Vincy Chan interviews transgender men in Hong Kong who have encountered discrimination and misinformation when visiting sexual and reproductive healthcare clinics in Hong Kong. In the absence of reliable support, they often need to take matters into their own hands.