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9 Jul 2015 |
“How Many is Enough?” New Family Planning TV API Premieres
A new TV Announcement in the Public Interest (API) premieres today to promote family planning as Hong Kong couples are more positive about childbearing in recent years but many have not attained their ideal parity goals. Titled “How Many is Enough?”, the API released by the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK) encourages young couples intending to have children to plan early in order to pursue their fertility aspirations.
At a press preview of the API today, Ms. Lina Yan, FPAHK’s Chairman, pointed out that the fertility patterns and aspirations of Hong Kong couples have changed as revealed in the latest “Family Planning Knowledge, Attitude and Practice in Hong Kong Survey” conducted by FPAHK in 2012. Following the continuous decline of married women’s average ideal parity to the lowest of 1.59 in 2007, it picked up to reach 1.67 in 2012. Correspondingly, those desiring to have a child or another child reversed its decades-long downward trend and rose to about 20% in 2012, showing stronger childbearing aspirations. With women’s average actual parity continuing to decline to 1.24 in 2012, the gap between their average actual parity and their average ideal parity (1.67) had widened to 0.43. Almost 40% of the women had not attained their ideal family size.
Delayed marriage and childbearing may account for the large proportion of women with unattained fertility goals, said Ms Yan. The keen demand for FPAHK’s Subfertility Service from older couples with difficulty to conceive over the past decade had prompted FPAHK, through this API, to remind couples to plan ahead and plan well in order to avoid disappointment from missed fertility opportunities in later years.
Dr. Elaine Tung, Chairman of FPAHK’s Information, Education and Communication Subcommittee, said FPAHK has always encouraged couples to make informed and responsible decisions on whether or not to have children, when to have them and how many. Early planning and preparation are essential, especially for those who aspire for a bigger family.
After the preview, Prof. Ng Man-lun, FPAHK’s Council Member, gave a cameo presentation of a jingle rhyme which he was inspired by this API to create.
Dr. Susan Fan, FPAHK’s Executive Director, said that FPAHK has played a leading role in promoting family planning in Hong Kong. She encouraged couples to make good use of FPAHK’s comprehensive range of supporting services in planning their family and parenthood, including Pre-Marital Check-up, Pre-pregnancy Check-up, Married Life Information Service, Marriage and Sex Counselling Service, Sex Life Talks, Subfertility Services, Sex Coaching, Sex Therapy and Early Pregnancy Assessment, etc. She also urged couples facing subfertility and sexual life problems to seek professional help.
The new “How Many is Enough?” APIs in Cantonese and English versions will premiere this evening during the prime-time hours on more than 40 public and fee-charging TV channels, including TVB’s Jade and Pearl Channels and ATV’s Home and World Channels (after 8 pm) and Cable TV (after 6 pm). The Cantonese, English and Putonghua audio versions will be broadcast concurrently on radio channels. The APIs will also be available on the FPAHK Website (www.famplan.org.hk/fpahk/en) for public viewing from this evening.
Press photographs of the API preview can be downloaded from the “Press Release” section under “Media Centre” on the FPAHK Website (www.famplan.org.hk/fpahk/en).
