★ Firsthand accounts from a female obstetrician-gynecologist, presenting 27 real-life stories that guide readers from physical ailments toward solutions for life’s deeper challenges. Essential reading for women, and equally important for men.

★ Written by a former senior attending physician in the obstetrics and gynecology department of a medical center-level hospital, documenting real-life stories from outpatient clinics and hospital wards—unexpected, dramatic, and inspiring.

★ Confronts the painful challenges modern women face, offering sharp reflections on prejudice, outdated customs, and gender stereotypes, opening up possibilities for all women to break free from constraints.

★ If you care deeply about the women and girls in your life and want to understand and help alleviate the challenges they face, this book will become a cherished addition to your reading list.

★ Written from the perspective of a female physician, the author reflects on gender stereotypes in society through her journey of becoming a doctor and her firsthand observations in the workplace, revealing untold stories from Taiwan’s medical establishment.

★ Through the women and girls who step into the consultation room, the book presents the complex issues surrounding marriage, childbearing, gender, family, and generational dynamics—problems with no simple answers.

A physical ailment can be treated by a doctor, but where does one find healing for the struggles of life?

In the obstetrics and gynecology department of a large hospital, a determined female physician works tirelessly. Into her consultation room and hospital wards come a wide array of women and girls. Have they come to treat a physical condition, or to heal something deeper? Beyond prescribing medication and performing surgery, can a doctor open a path forward for their lives? This physician, who always carries her patients’ wellbeing close to her heart, works actively to expand opportunities for women within the medical field, proving that women are by no means “the second sex.”

Selected Cases:

“First Visit”: A young woman assumes her lower belly protrusion is simply weight gain—until a doctor discovers a tumor the size of a large pomelo.

“Home”: A teenager visits with her aunt but secretly confides to the doctor, “I’m pregnant! My boyfriend told me not to say anything, to wait until the baby is big, so we can keep it.”

“The Plan”: A pregnant woman with diabetes is repeatedly pressured by her mother-in-law to terminate the pregnancy. The doctor intervenes with medical expertise, using scientific evidence to defend the rights of both mother and child.

“Unfinished”: Diagnosed at age twenty-three with congenital absence of the uterus? A young woman never menstruated during adolescence. Years earlier, a doctor had only prescribed medication to induce menstruation without performing an internal exam because she had no sexual experience, while her mother believed “marriage will fix it.”

“The Wrong Body”: A “nineteen-year-old male” appears in the consultation room—actually a transgender individual. This was the author’s first encounter with a transgender patient, confronting her with the complexities of gender identity.

“Gift”: A woman who has been menopausal for years visits with abdominal bloating, laughing that pregnancy is impossible. But when the ultrasound probe touches her abdomen, a tiny face appears on the screen…

Through twenty-seven deeply moving true stories, this book portrays the weight women carry in their bodies, marriages, families, and society, and shows how one female physician became a source of support and a pathway forward for her patients.

Lin Jingyi

Attending physician in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Chung Shan Medical University Hospital; PhD candidate at the Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University. Mother of a proud long-haired dachshund, at an age when her eyes have begun to fail.

Before university, she read Dream of the Red Chamber, embroidered sachets, and practiced knitting. After university, she read medical journals, sutured human flesh, and handled internal organs. She never set any grand life goals, yet found herself doing things she had never imagined: serving as a member of the Ninth Legislative Yuan, a member of the Executive Yuan’s Committee for the Promotion of Women’s Rights, a member of gender equality committees for government agencies and local authorities, and holding directorships in several professional organizations. She has received the Golden Heart Award from the Centers for Disease Control, spent months drinking rainwater in the South Pacific, and eaten her share of dust storms in North India.

She believes that people make choices within limited options; good fortune should be met with gratitude, and adversity calls for self-reflection. Her outlook on life has been deeply shaped by the works of Haruki Murakami (meaning any deviations from sound thinking should be blamed on him). Wherever she works, she gives her all. To her, happiness is waking up naturally and brewing herself a cup of coffee.