Burden of conceiving should not be put solely on women

SHAH ALAM - "It is your responsibility to grow a family".

This was the kind of comment entrepreneur Hazwani Mohd had to endure when she was struggling to conceive throughout 10 years of her marriage.

"In the Malay culture, it is very normal to expect newlyweds to immediately have kids after marriage, but the pressure (to have babies) was not made in a direct manner.

"Little hints here and there are still things that pressures me, but I realised that it is not only my responsibility (in trying to conceive) because it takes two to make a baby,” she said.

Hazwani said this during Sinar Daily's talkshow Relatable, entitled "The Struggles of Conceiving" at Kompleks Karangkraf, here.

She said just because a women physically carry the baby in her womb, it does not mean that women carry the entire responsibility to get pregnant.

She added that it was unfair to pressure women to get pregnant when it actually takes two people to make it happen.

After being diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in 2012, diabetes in 2018, and a miscarriage in 2020, Hazwani's pregnancy journey has not been easy.

She said she had also made preparations for the in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment as one of her efforts to have a child.

During the live show, Hazwani was joined by two other panelists who were model Kim Raymond who has experience in IVF treatment and obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Natasha Ain Mohd Noor.

The episode addressed the causes of infertility, the social stigma surrounding infertility, and how it is always perceived exclusively as a women’s problem.