Women in mainland China are staging “pregnancy” photo-shoots before they’re actually pregnant, a trend Jing Daily reports as being popularised by Gen Z influencer Meizi Gege (@莓子哥哥).
Dubbed “pre-made maternity photos,” the practice is apparently designed to enable women to immortalise themselves wearing prosthetic pregnant stomachs while still in their physical prime.
According to Jing Daily, it’s part of the broader “pre-made life” trend, which involves taking photos to post or display at a later date, in order to present a consistently youthful appearance through different life stages.
Gege posted her photos on the social media site Xiaohongshu (known in English as Little Red Book). “While I’m still slim, I wore a fake belly to take maternity photos and enjoyed a pre-made life. I even did it with my best friend!” she wrote.
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The pre-made life trend has drawn some disdain on social media, with one Xiaohongshu user urging photography studios to stop marketing the service. “Women don’t need to be beautiful all the time, and aren’t maternity photos supposed to capture a specific moment?” they commented. “If the child isn’t in the womb, what are we even documenting?”
Meanwhile, a sizable number of women paying for these photoshoots may never experience pregnancy themselves, Jing Daily implied.
While China’s birth rate rose slightly in 2024, after years of decline, many women still opt to be child-free. One report cited by the publication attributed the decision to the financial burden of raising kids.
In an effort to encourage childbirth – seen as vital in combatting the country’s economically problematic aging population – the government has launched a number of initiatives meant to encourage more positive views of child-rearing.
