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Known as China’s oldest mother of twins, 76-year-old Sheng Hailin has drawn renewed attention after a photo series about her life won an international photography contest.
On the 17th (local time), the South China Morning Post reported that Sheng, who now has about 1 million social media followers, uses her platform as an influencer to comfort and inspire parents trying to rebuild their lives after losing a child.
Local outlet China Youth Daily says Sheng’s life was upended in 2009, when her only daughter, Tingting, and her son-in-law suddenly died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Overwhelmed by grief and loneliness, she resolved to try again. In 2010, at age 60, she underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF).
The childbirth was perilous: Sheng suffered severe swelling and heavy bleeding and nearly died before finally holding her twin daughters, Ziz and Huihui. The birth made her the oldest woman in China to give birth at the time.
The twins offered Sheng and her husband a second chance at parenthood, but news of their late-in-life birth sparked heated debate across China, with many people questioning the couple’s finances and the children’s future.
Public records show Sheng had been a hospital director before retiring, and her husband worked as a university professor. Even so, the costs of nannies, living expenses and education placed a heavy burden on the family.
To support her daughters, she toured the country giving talks on nutrition and health, using the proceeds to pay for quality schooling and extracurricular lessons like dance and piano.
But that fragile stability didn’t last. In 2016 her husband suffered a stroke, and he died in 2022 of cardiorespiratory failure. He was buried beside their elder daughter, who had died years earlier.
The following year, a woman named Chen defrauded her of more than 2 million yuan (about 400 million KRW, approximately 300,000 USD).
Describing herself as a “strong woman,” Sheng refused to break. At 73 she began live-streaming and now shares parenting and cooking tips on short-form platforms while selling health supplements and household goods.
She candidly discusses the generation gap with her daughters, saying she tries to stay young at heart, take part in their interests and keep up with current trends.
“I’m always proud to be a mother,” Sheng said, adding that she hopes to live past 100.
Beijing News reports she acknowledges her path isn’t one anyone can easily follow: it requires education, good health and the ability to keep earning an income.
Still, she says she hopes mothers in any situation will find the courage to live for themselves.
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