Oh baby, we’ve entered maternity-era madness.
Young women in China are paying for fake maternity photo shoots because they want “beautiful” “pregnancy” pictures while they’re at their physical peak — and not expecting.
The bizarre phenomenon garnered international attention in October after influencer Meizi Gege, who’s in her early 20s, strapped on an artificial belly and posed in front of the camera.
“While I’m still slim, I wore a fake belly to take maternity photos and enjoyed a premade life. I even did it with my best friend!” the beauty told her 5.7 million followers, per the South China Morning Post.
China’s notorious one-child policy officially ended in 2015 amid concerns about an aging population and declining birth rates.
However, almost a decade on, birth rates are still on the decline, according to SCMP.
In China, the average age of women having their first child increased from 26.4 to 27.4 between 2019 and 2022, “indicating that fewer families are opting to have any babies, and further dragging down the birth rates for second and third children.”
In Shanghai, the average age of first-time mothers has reached 30.36, pushing back the overall average childbearing age to 31.18, the Global Times reported.
By their 30s, many Chinese women feel they’re past their physical prime, prompting young women to rush to photo studios before they’re beset by stretch marks and any unwanted weight experienced during an actual pregnancy.
After Gege revealed she posed for the fake pregnancy pics, others also admitted they had done the exact same thing.
One 26-year-old declared that she had maternity photos taken when she was 23, despite the fact she was not even married.
Another praised Gege and admitted they’d be booking their own appointment.
“I have learned something new. I am going to buy a fake belly and take maternity photos while I am still at my slimmest!” they enthused.
According to SCMP’s investigation, the fake baby bumps are easily available online and come in a variety of sizes, meaning women can snap pictures that make it appear they’re at various stages of pregnancy.
However, it’s not just maternity photos that Chinese zoomers are faking.
One singleton said she had fake bridal photos taken at the age of 22 “just in case I get wrinkles by 30.”
The faux-pregnancy phenomenon has been widely condemned by many, who believe it promotes body image issues and “white, skinny and young” beauty standards.
Meanwhile, they see the photo shoots as ripe for mockery.
“I will shoot my 70th birthday photos now and then post them on social media later. It will make me look so young!” one critic quipped beneath Gege’s video.
Another claimed they would get a head start on their funeral photos so they look beautiful when they die.
