Career blessings of late childbirth

Wang Chun took an unconventional approach to not letting children get in the way of her business career.

The chief operating officer and co-founder of VODone Group, a news video platform in China, delayed having any until she was 47 and then had twins.

She recounts her story in her new book, Mission Impossible: Pregnancy With Twin Babies in my Late 40s, I Made it Happen, published in April.

"I was always focused on my business career. I always felt I was young and healthy enough to wait for several years to have a baby, thus delaying the decision again and again. Then one day I realized I would lose the chance altogether," she says.

Wang, who has diabetes, had to have IVF in order to conceive but eventually gave birth to two boys, Xuanrui and Xuanshuo, who have the English names Tim and Tom, and are now 2.

"The doctor told me it would not be easy, and when I was pregnant I understood what he meant. The first IVF treatment failed so there was all the more pressure when I did it a second time."

Wang, now 50, is from Tianjin and originally trained to be a doctor but followed her husband Zhang Lijun, 51, to Beijing and then worked in international trade with a state-owned enterprise, which took her to the US and Canada.

Seeing there first hand the exciting potential in retail, she set up one of China's first Internet businesses, China Huatian Online Supermarket, an online shopping mall, in 1996. It was eventually merged with her husband's business.

In 2005 Wang and her husband set up VODone Group, which has the Chinese government's support and is a Chinese version of YouTube but for news only, and listed it in Hong Kong a year later. Its subsidiary, China Mobile Game Entertainment Group, or CMGE, was listed on Nasdaq in 2012.

Wang believes not having a career break in her 20s or 30s to have children like many businesswomen has been beneficial to her career.

"I think it has been a factor. My business always excited me more, especially when I entered the Internet field. In the past when we had gatherings of family and friends, I always felt it was boring when people wouldn't quit talking about their children."

She now balances her business career with bringing up her children, for which she has the support of nannies.

"I still feel it was the proper time for me to have children since the tradeoff was I could have a business career first.

"But I have to say though that now while being a successful businesswomen is great, being a successful mother at an older age is more satisfying."

Wang says she has written the book for women who may be thinking they have missed out of the chance of having children.

"I often say that if I can do it, so can you. For any career woman there is always going to be a conflict between promotion opportunities and ideal childbearing time. Older working women should never give up their natural right and hope of being a mother."

Wang says she does have concerns as a late mother of not being around when her children are older.

"This is something my husband and I have discussed. When they are in their 20s we will be in our 70s. We might be too old to help them. The best thing we can really do is give them the benefit of a high-quality education so their can be independent and make their own contribution to society."

(China Daily Africa Weekly 05/29/2015 page7)