When Yi Ran learned she was pregnant three years ago she was overwhelmed with fear. The 30-year-old store assistant was not married, her boyfriend was just an occasional relation and she felt at her age this could be the last chance to have a child.
三年前，当易冉（音）得知她怀孕了，她陷入了恐惧之中。那时已三十岁的她，是一名店铺助理，尚未结婚，她与他的男朋友只是偶然认识并发生了关系。她感觉到以她当时的年龄，那可能是自己最后一次生育机会。
But as she mustered courage and decided to carry on with her pregnancy, the woman fell into an invisible growing world of unwed mothers struggling to survive in tradition-dominated China. Every year the number of women giving birth out of wedlock grows by 10-13 percent, and their age becomes increasingly young, according to surveys carried by local press.
然而当她鼓起勇气决定继续妊娠将留住孩子的时候，她陷入了一个不断变大着的无形世界——在那个世界里，未婚妈妈们在传统统治下的中国竭力生存。根据一个地方媒体的调查，每年未婚生育女性的数量以10%-13%的比例在增长，并且她们的年龄越来越年轻。
Like many others, Yi Ran did not tell anybody in her entourage about the pregnancy. She chose instead to quit her job, open an online store and work from home, where she can look after her son at the same time.
像很多其他人那样，易冉没有告诉她周围的人她怀孕的事情。她选择了辞去工作，开了一个网店，在家里工作，这样她能在工作的同时照顾儿子。
She said that her heart is heavy with anxiety as she strives to make ends meet while a fine imposed on illegal births still looms large over her days.
她说，当她竭力维持生活的时候，一项针对违法生育的罚款与她如影随形，这使得她她心里充满了焦虑。
“I fear I will not be able to pay” she said.
“我很怕我无法支付罚款”，她说道。
Yi Ran’s son also does not exist on China’s population records, because he has no household registration –hukou in Chinese - available only to children born within the frame of legal marriage.
易冉的儿子同样没有被列入中国的人口记录中，因为他没有户口——户口只给那些在合法婚姻状况下生育的儿童。
The plight of single mothers
单身妈妈们的困境
The question of young women giving birth out of wedlock rose to attention a month ago when firemen rescued an abandoned baby from a sewage pipe. The case made headlines in China and shocked the whole nation.
一个月之前，消防员从下水道救出一名弃婴的事件使得年轻女性未婚生育的问题引起关注。该案例成为中国头条新闻，震惊全国。
A 22-year-old waitress in southeast China gave birth in a public toilet, then flushed the newborn’s body away in an attempt to avoid condemnation and punishment for bearing a child without being married. Only after the baby was rescued days later did she come out to explain that fear and dismay at her future as a single mother led to her actions. Police, however, returned the child to his mother.
中国西南地区一个22岁的女服务员在一个公厕生下一个婴儿，然后为了逃避由于未婚生育引起的谴责和惩罚，将婴儿从下水道冲走。在孩子得救几天以后，她才现身解释源自对自己作为单身妈妈未来的恐惧和惊慌导致她做出这样的行为。然而，警方将他的孩子交给她的母亲扶养。
Rising incomes, liberal sexual behavior and growing mobility are all impacting women’s choices on family and relations.
不断提高的收入，自由性行为和人口流动性的加剧这些因素都影响着妇女对家庭和两性关系的选择。
A survey conducted by the Guangdong Province Research Center on Family Planning revealed that 50 to 80 percent of female migrant workers in the province have premarital sex; among them 50 to 60 percent have had in accidental pregnancy.
一份来自广东省计生调查中心的调查显示：在广东省，50%-80%的女性农民工都有过婚前性行为，她们当中50%-60%的人都曾有过意外怀孕。
When they decide to keep their baby, single women are aware they are breaking the law. Chinese family planning agencies punish any contravention of the one-child policy, including birth out of wedlock.
当她们决定留住孩子的时候，这些单身女性注意到她们是在违法。中国计划生育机构对违反一个孩子政策，包括非婚生育的行为是要进行处罚的。
Wei Wei, a social worker with Little Bird –an NGO that provides help for migrant workers –says Chinese society does not support aid to unwed mothers, as other causes come first in the helping line.
魏伟（音），一个帮助农民工的非政府组织“小鸟”（Little Bird）的一名社会工作者，说当其它原因率先出现在帮助线的时候，中国社会不支持向未婚妈妈提供帮助。
“Their status is illegal, they do not have any legal protection. And this is a thorny social group, there’s no organization that looks after them, ” says Mr. Wei.
“她们的情况是非法的，她们没有受到任何法律保护。这是一个令人头疼的社会群体，没有任何组织帮助她们，”魏先生说道。
Invisible children
黑户孩子
Wei Wei said the phenomenon is widespread, especially in manufacturing clusters like Guangzhou and Shenzhen where migrant workers flock together.
魏伟说这种现象一直在蔓延，尤其在像广州、深圳那些农民工集中聚集的制造业集中的地方。
“The biggest problem they face once their partner abandons them is the issue of hukou, they are not able to get a household registration for the child” he said. “They also find themselves in very hard economic condition, because the original family excludes them, they do not have any income and it’s hard for them to find a job.”
“当被伴侣抛弃，她们面临的最大的问题是户口，她们无法为孩子上户口”，他说，“她们同样会发现自己的经济状况非常糟糕，因为娘家排斥她们，她们没有任何收入，并且很难找到工作。”
Yi Ran’s son is now three years old.
易冉的儿子现在已经三岁了。
Without the household registration he will not be allowed into kindergarten and each time he falls ill, medical fees are higher than average. But as she does not posses any marriage certificate, the young woman is not able to apply for registration.
没有户口，他没法上幼儿园；每次生病的时候，他的医疗费用都比一般人要高。但是由于她没有结婚证，导致她无法为儿子申请户籍。
“Getting a household registration for my son is my biggest concern, that’s where I would really need help” she said.
“为我儿子上户口现在是我最关心的问题，这也是我真正需要帮助的地方”，她说道。
Little Bird’s Wei Wei said the law does not consider this situation.
在“小鸟”工作的魏伟说法律不考虑这种（上户口的）情况。
“According to Chinese regulation if they do not marry before giving birth, registering the kid is a huge problem.”
“根据中国现行的规定，如果她们未婚生育，孩子上户口是个更大的问题。”
Solutions are scarce, Wei said, and one includes marriage.
解决办法很少，魏说，结婚是其中一个。
“They can marry somebody and then apply for a hukou for the kid, in this way the problem can be solved.”
“她们可以找个人结婚，然后为孩子申请户口，用这种方式可以解决问题。”
Fines for unwed mothers
针对未婚妈妈的罚款
On the other hand, no solution is available to avoid the social compensation fees imposed by local government on unwed mothers for breaking the one-child policy.
另一方面，无法避免地方政府针对未婚妈妈违反一个孩子政策征收的社会抚养费。
Last month Wuhan city government sparked controversy when it announced a new regulation targeting women giving birth out of wedlock. Article 26 of the regulation on population management, currently under revision, states that ‘unwed people giving birth or unable to provide certificate of the partner’ must pay a social compensation fee in accordance with local law.
上个月，武汉市出台一项针对未婚生育的新规定时，引发了争议。该规定第26条是针对人口管理的，尚处于修订之中，声明未婚生育或无法提供配偶证明的，根据当地法律，必须缴纳社会抚养费。
Li Yun, a women’s rights lawyer based in Guangzhou, said that Wuhan’s policies put an unfair financial load on these women.
李云（音），广州的一名女权律师，认为武汉的这个政策对妇女造成了不公平的经济负担。
“The fine set is double the amount of the fine for couple who have more than one child” she said. “This is probably because the number of children born out of wedlock is increasingly high, but it’s unfair and many are against the rule.”
“这个罚款的标准是对生育超过一个孩子的夫妇的罚款的两倍，”她说，“这可能是因为非婚生育儿童的数量越来越多，但这样罚款是不公平的，很多都是违规的。”
The burden of fines often weighs only on single mothers, as partners abandon them.
当被伴侣抛弃的时候，罚款的负担通常压在单身妈妈身上。
The amount varies and in certain areas can be the equivalent of one year’s income. People like Yi Ran, who do not enjoy family support and fall outside social welfare programs aimed only at married couples, find it very difficult to pay social compensation fees.
罚款的数额不等，在特定地区相当于她们一年的收入。像易冉这些人，得不到家庭的资助，游离于仅针对已婚夫妇的社会保险之外，她们很难去支付社会抚养费。
But public opinion is reacting to Wuhan’s new law. Earlier this month local students took to the street protesting the measure.
然而，公众舆论正在对武汉的新法规做出回应。这个月早些时候，武汉学法律的学生们走上街头抗议这个措施。
Social network
社交网络
On the fringes of society, where no help is available to them, unwed mothers rely heavily on each other.
生活在社会边缘，无助的未婚妈妈们强烈地彼此依赖。
Many go on the Internet to find help and moral relief.
她们中间的许多人上网寻求帮助和精神慰藉。
More than 3, 000 users are active in an online chat dedicated to unwed mothers on Internet portal Baidu, said the forum’s moderator Yiyi.
门户网站百度上一个专注于未婚妈妈在线聊天的论坛上有三千多活跃用户，该论坛的版主Yiyi说。
Yi Ran explains that the Internet is the only place where she can express her feelings and frustrations as a single mother. Never has she sought help from strangers or social welfare.
易冉说网络是她作为单身妈妈表达情绪和挫折的唯一地方。她从未向陌生人或社会福利机构寻求过帮助。
“There are things I cannot say in real life, but the Internet is my little space of freedom” she said.
“有些事情我无法在现实生活中说，但网络是我一个自由的小空间”，她说道。
Yang, an officer at the All China Women’s Federation in Beijing’s Dongcheng District, acknowledges that unwed mothers rarely seek help at government-sponsored agencies like theirs.
杨女士，位于北京东城区的中国妇女联合会的的一位官员，承认未婚妈妈极少向类似她们那样的由政府资助的机构寻求帮助。
“We basically do not have a service for unmarried mothers because there is not this need in society and nobody asks us for this kind of help.”
“我们一般没有针对未婚妈妈的服务，因为在社会上没有这种需要，也没有人向我们寻求这种服务。”
But as long as social perception of unmarried mothers does not change, it will be difficult for these women to come out.
但是只要未婚妈妈的社会知觉不改变，针对这些女性的服务就不会出现。
Lawyer Li Yun said women who give birth out of wedlock live under high pressure. “People basically believe it’s a personal mistake, it’s their personal responsibility to be a single mother” she said. “They receive moral condemnation by society.”
李云律师说未婚生育女性生活在极大的压力之下。“人们一般认为这是个人错误，沦为单身妈妈是她们个人的责任。她们还会受到社会的道德谴责。”她说。
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