HONG KONG: After seven years together, Poon and her fiance were ready to marry and start a family last year, but the Covid-19 pandemic spoiled their plans.
At 33, she worries that her chances of getting pregnant will decline as she grows older.
The Hong Konger, who works in finance and asked to be identified by only her surname, says she and her fiance, also 33, put their wedding plans on hold as the lockdown and travel restrictions meant their friends abroad could not come for the wedding.
After consulting her doctor, she also decided to put off having a baby, worried that she might face a higher risk of contracting the coronavirus and suffering more severe complications during pregnancy.
"We are living in a pandemic, when health remains the most important to me," she says.
Hong Kong couples have delayed or scrapped plans to have babies during the pandemic, disheartened by the fear of health risks, social and financial instability, and a sense of uncertainty about the future.
The number of births fell 18.5% to 43,100 last year from the year before, according to official statistics. It was the biggest year-on-year drop in the past five years.
It was also the first time since official records began in the 1960s that there were fewer births than deaths, which stood at 49,800 last year.
The crude birth rate, which refers to the number of births per 1,000 people, fell from 7.0 in 2019 to 5.8 last year, while the total fertility rate (TFR) — the average number of children born to 1,000 women during their lifetime — dropped from 1,051 in 2019 to 869 last year, the lowest in 40 years.
That set Hong Kong's TFR at 0.87, one of the lowest in the world. South Korea is reported to have the world's lowest TFR - it fell to 0.84 in the third quarter of last year - while countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had an average TFR of 1.65 in 2019. A TFR of 2.1 indicates that a population is replacing itself.
In a blog post in January, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong blamed the sharp drop in births last year on the instability caused by the social unrest during the latter half of 2019.
The plunge in the number of marriages last year also affected the number of babies born, he added. There were only 28,200 marriages in 2020, 36.4% fewer than the 44,200 in 2019.
Given the ongoing pandemic and the state of the economy, Law said Hong Kong's birth rate was likely to fall further this year.
Experts agree the pandemic has made it harder for couples to choose to start or expand their family, but they also warn of risks in delaying, particularly for older women.
Dr Kun Ka-yan, an obstetrician and gynaecologist in private practice, says fewer of his patients have given birth during the pandemic. His average number of deliveries dropped from about a dozen each month to no more than 10.
He says many are nervous about higher infection risks for pregnant women and the health of their babies, while others are discouraged by job losses and pay cuts.
Travel restrictions and mandatory quarantine requirements have also deterred mainlanders from travelling to Hong Kong to give birth.
Dr Quratulain Zaidi, clinical psychologist at the MindnLife private practice, says she has received more inquiries over the past 1½ years from couples with concerns about having children.
She says they are tormented trying to decide whether to conceive, while unsure about Covid-19's impact on pregnancy.
Women also wonder whether they can have their partners by their side when they give birth, and worrying has had an impact on the couples' mental health and strained their relationships.