The Parents of the "Aegukjane" Twins Were Most Hurt by 'These Words'

Population Health and Welfare Association Conducts Twin Parenting Empathy Campaign
Announcement of Hurtful Words and Encouraging Words Results

“Twins? You must be a patriot."

This is the most hurtful thing twin parents have heard during pregnancy and childcare.

On the 28th, the Korea Population, Health and Welfare Association announced the results of the online campaign ‘Words that hurt, words that gave strength, words and encouragement messages parents of twins wanted to hear during pregnancy and childcare’ held from November 22 to December 10. Thirty pairs of twin parents who participated in the campaign selected ‘hurtful words’ and ‘encouraging words’ in open-ended responses.

On May 13, at the Seoul National University sports field, twins and triplets children are lined up waiting to receive balloon gifts during the 'Twins Plus Homecoming Day.'
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The association cautioned that even words meant as encouragement can be hurtful to some twin parents. In the context of the worsening low birthrate issue, words intended to praise parents who are pregnant with or raising twins can unintentionally cause pain regardless of the intention.

It is also understood that the compliment of being called a patriot might have sounded like distinguishing twins from ordinary children.

The association stated, “While the encouragement calling twin parents patriots was likely made considering the nationwide low birthrate phenomenon, the twin parents themselves did not have the purpose of ‘patriotism’ when having children, so they were hurt.” They added, “We cannot blame those who offer encouragement, but more thoughtful consideration is needed.”

Other hurtful remarks to twin parents included “The child is small, maybe because they are twins,” “Are they natural birth?”, “Looks like it was a C-section?”, and “Do you have the financial means?”

On the other hand, encouraging words selected included “It’s tough now, but you’ll be more than twice as happy later” and “You’re doing well now, just keep it up.”

The association said, “As twin families are gradually increasing, there are prejudices against twins,” and added, “We will promote public awareness campaigns so that twin parents can raise their children happily without discomfort from others’ views.”

Meanwhile, in the third quarter (July to September) of this year, South Korea’s total fertility rate was 0.7, marking the lowest ever recorded since the statistics began in 2009.

(This photo is not directly related to the article.) [Photo source=Pixabay]

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.