Woman who had 17 abortions in 6 years may never be able to have children

In the Western world, sex education is, for many, the best it's ever been. However, there is still a long way to go when it comes to teaching people what they need to know, especially when it comes to LGBTQ+ sex education.

China, however, is becoming increasingly notorious for its lack of such education, resulting in one of the highest rates of abortion in the world - with conservative estimates putting the figure at 13 million a year.

Sex-selective abortions are also a problem in China: 

Unfortunately, for many Chinese women, abortion is their primary form of contraception, and an over of this contraception can lead to infertility.

Case in point, the 27-year-old woman whose story was shared by a February report in the Shiyan Evening News. The woman, who was given the pseudonym Julie, has undergone 17 abortions in just six years.

This is a reflection of her six-year relationship with her boyfriend, which began when she was 21.

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In an interview with the Shiyan Evening News, Dr. Zhao said: "Every time, she pays for the most expensive operations. But she didn't realize that paying more won't make up for the damage done to her body from the operation."

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Zhao is the head of the gynaecology department at Shiyan Maternal and Child Health Hospital.

He was approached by Julie to perform her 17th termination and said that when he discussed her previous abortions with her, she was oblivious to the enormity of the decision she was undertaking and more interested in her smartphone.

He said that the inside of her body was badly damaged from the previous terminations: "It's as thin as paper and scarred everywhere."

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Zhao then warned the 27-year-old that if she went ahead with the procedure, there was a strong chance that she would be unable to have children further down the line. However, she paid no attention to his warning and went ahead with her 17th termination.

The doctor explained that China's former one-child policy means that abortions are incredibly easy to obtain. Featured above and below are adverts which claim that having an abortion is a "relaxed" procedure, with the advert above selling itself on being able to terminate pregnancies in just three minutes.

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CNN reports that Zhao Jing, founder of the Chinese social media app Yummy said: "Many women have abortions because they lack basic sex education, especially contraceptive education."

"They think having an abortion is like taking a nap, which is how it is described in adverts," Jing added.