Speaker
Description
As a single, foreign Asian woman living in Japan, I chose to become a mother through medical treatment. It was a decision that challenged cultural expectations, social norms, and personal limits. Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, I arrived in Japan as an exchange student and have since spent nearly two decades working as an English teacher. Despite a fulfilling professional life, I faced internal and external pressures around marriage and motherhood. My desire to become a parent led me down an unconventional and emotionally demanding path toward solo motherhood. In this presentation, I will share my journey: the years of preparation, research and medical treatment, the birth and difficult delivery of my son, and the evolving identity I now hold as a single mother in a society where assumptions often outweigh understanding. From well-meaning but intrusive questions about my missing husband to the stigma of being unmarried with a child, I will share how I navigate daily encounters in Japan. I will also discuss the social scripts I am expected to follow and my decisions not to follow them. I am hoping I could open a new conversation about non-traditional family paths, to normalize diverse choices in parenthood, and to try to define the concept of a family. I also hope my story might motivate others who may be considering alternative or solo parenthood especially in places like Japan where standing out still still feel like living on the edge.