Aug. 8 is Father's Day and the 10th anniversary of Typhoon Morakot. Mr. and Mrs. Chen Chen-jung of Siaolin Village, who lost their three children in the landslide due to typhoon Morkot, had twins through artificial reproduction almost three years ago. A new start for the chen family.
A dozen Siaolin residents traveled to Taichung to attend the rebirth party of the Chen twins.
Ten years ago during Typhoon Morakot, Mr. and Mrs. Chen Chen-jung lost their three children when Siaolin Village was buried in a landslide. Over two years ago, the couple decided to "rebirth" their children and bring them back to this world even though Chen was undergoing chemotherapy and his wife was in her 40s. They underwent five rounds of egg retrieval and eventually had the twins, who are now almost three years old.
If you don't have kids, you're used to that and you don't think about bringing them back to this world. We had two or three kids and we wanted to "rebirth" them.
(The Chens) are getting on in age. Now, they had two kids at once.
The villagers that attended the party say many residents left the village after the typhoon and only the elderly remain. The village's five boroughs have produced just 10 children over the past decade, which is a huge source of frustration for them. However, it also gives them motivation to keep going.
We are even stronger. We aren't afraid of (Heaven) and what you have taken from us. We will get it all back one bit at a time.
OB-GYN Lee Mao-sheng says his top concern for Mrs. Chen was genetic abnormalities due to her advanced age. Fortunately, medical technology allowed Mrs. Chen to bear two healthy children.
(Mrs. Chen) had just a 5 or 6 percent chance of getting pregnant. There definitely had to be new methods used in order for this couple to have more (children).
Mrs. Chen is a full-time mom while Mr. Chen continues to earn a living as a farmer. Ten years ago, Siaolin was decimated by Typhoon Morakot. With time healing their wounds, surviving residents are moving on with their lives.