Hong Kong parents and concern groups welcome new policy marking ‘respect’ for miscarried fetuses instead of treating remains as clinical waste
Move announced in policy address may finally answer calls over controversial matter, but details need to be ironed out
Hongkonger Venus Lai, who suffered a miscarriage in her 21st week of pregnancy, was still reeling from the loss when she was rejected 30 times in her bid to bury her baby’s remains in a cemetery.
This was because her child, named Cheung Loi-kin, which translates from Cantonese into “see you again”, was under the 24-week gestation mark to qualify as a fetus. Instead, it was considered an abortus, to be disposed of as medical waste.
Lai lost her baby to a genetic disorder which was detected by doctors before the miscarriage.
The mother, who declined to reveal her full name, vowed to fight an uphill battle to get her son properly buried. After days spent wrangling with procedures at a public hospital, she accepted the only way allowed to reclaim the remains – by employing a pet cremation service.
On Wednesday, the government addressed the anguish of parents such as Lai, when Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced health care initiatives during her annual policy speech. In a new move, public hospitals would soon allow couples to claim a fetus under 24 weeks for burial or cremation.