Profile | Hong Kong teen pregnancy charity Mother’s Choice CEO on the importance of ‘opening our eyes’ to vulnerable girls in society
- Alia Eyres, CEO of Mother’s Choice and a mother of seven herself, has been connected to the charity helping pregnant children in Hong Kong for most of her life
- Ahead of International Women’s Day, she talks about creating a non-judgmental space where vulnerable teens can ‘really know what their choices are’
This year’s International Women’s Day theme is “Embrace Equity”, and it is one that resonates with Alia Eyres, the chief executive officer of Hong Kong teen pregnancy charity Mother’s Choice.
“Equity isn’t about making things equal,” she says. “Equity is about recognising that we don’t all start from the same place.
“There are girls and young women in our city who are very vulnerable, even in our own circles, even women who we don’t realise are vulnerable. And I think the key thing for us as women – if we really want to impact the next generation of women in our city – is really opening our eyes to see [them].”
Moreover, because children and teenagers did not attend in-person classes at school regularly, teachers and social workers were not as readily available to help them or refer them to non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
‘To live is to give’: answering rise in pregnant teens’ calls for help
On average, teenagers in Hong Kong are falling pregnant at a younger age now, and many are coming in with more complex situations, such as trauma or a history of previous pregnancies.
“Our job is really to see the value in every child, in every young girl who comes here, to help them to be able to see their own value, their worth and their significance,” says Eyres.
“And to really empower them to make the choices, to have that future where they can reach their potential [and] they can be the very best version of themselves.”
Eyres grew up volunteering for Mother’s Choice – her parents, Ranjan and Phyllis Marwah, co-founded the charity with their friends Gary and Helen Stephens – and has been its head for 11 years.
Relationship breakdowns, mental health challenges and parents losing their jobs are all factors that can lead to children losing their support system and community, which makes them more vulnerable to teenage pregnancy.
To date, Mother’s Choice has supported more than 54,500 girls and women through a crisis pregnancy, with some as young as 11 years old. When expectant teens first call in, the charity’s priority is to ensure that they are aware of their options, which depend on their stage of pregnancy.
The mother of seven knows well the importance of community, and having a supportive network.
“When I was 11 weeks pregnant [with my fifth child], I got very, very sick – unrelated to the pregnancy – but as a result, almost lost the pregnancy, and then ended up spending 19 weeks in and out of the hospital on bed rest, hospitalised half the time,” Eyres recalls. “I really had to lean on the village around me.”
At the same time, there was a 13-year-old girl, a Mother’s Choice client, who was also struggling with her pregnancy and was in and out of Queen Mary Hospital alongside Eyres.
While Eyres delivered her baby first, upon her return from maternity leave she immediately asked how the girl and her baby were doing, and how their transition out of the hospital went – given the pregnant girl’s age, police officers and social workers were on standby.
“Sometimes people can treat our girls almost like they’re criminals. They can say things that are unkind,” Eyres says. One senior police officer, however, was especially helpful, and a social worker later found out the policewoman had herself been pregnant while a teen and been kicked out of the family home before being brought to Mother’s Choice for support.
“When we can be there for young women, they grow up to be women who can influence our community for the better,” Eyres says. “That’s really impacting future generations.”
