Photo unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]
Photo unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]

A story from China has drawn widespread attention after a woman's widowed mother and her father-in-law fell in love and remarried.

According to China's Dashang News and other outlets, a woman surnamed Xiao married a man surnamed Chen in 2018 and later introduced her mother — who had lived alone for more than 20 years — to her father-in-law, who had lost his wife two decades earlier.

After getting to know her father-in-law through marriage, Xiao came to admire his character and personality. She consulted her husband, and the two decided to set the older pair up.

Xiao's mother, surnamed Ji, admitted she had initially turned down the idea. "We were both afraid of what people would say and the rumors that might spread," she said.

But after repeated encouragement from their children, the two met several times and discovered they were well suited for each other. They ultimately registered their marriage in 2021 and have been living together since.

"Because my mother is now also my mother-in-law, I have none of the usual worries about navigating in-law dynamics or friction between a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law," Xiao said. "She understands everything I want to say, because she is both my mom and my mother-in-law — I'm very happy."

The outlet noted the arrangement raises no legal issues. Under China's civil law, marriage is prohibited between direct blood relatives or collateral relatives within three degrees of kinship, but in-laws are connected through their children's marriage rather than by blood, meaning the remarriage is entirely lawful.


choigo@heraldcorp.com