After 20 years as a gynaecologist, Dr John IC Tang got tired of patients asking for an abortion for unwanted pregnancies. So tired, in fact, that he invented and patented a type of unisex condom to help women prevent such pregnancies, when their partners refuse contraceptives.

He has many stories from his two decades on the job. Here is one he shared with Humans of Kuala Lumpur:

“Let me tell you a story. There was an Indonesian lady who got married to a local man through an arranged marriage.

And they came to see me. The whole family came to see me. The husband, the wife, the parents and grandparents were all there because she could not get pregnant.

As a gynaecologist, I examined her, and I found out that she had an IUCD in her womb. An Intrauterine Contraceptive Device (IUCD) is a device which is inserted into the uterus (womb) to prevent pregnancy. She had a contraceptive device inside her womb.

When I found that, I asked her to sit down, I just kept quiet, and asked everybody to go out (of the consultation room), including the husband and the whole family. I then asked her - why?

“‘You are coming in to see me because you cannot get pregnant, but it turns out you have a contraceptive inside of you. Tell me why.”

She told me that when she got married, she did not know who the man was. Her family is poor. She got married because the man sends a certain amount of money to her family.

When she got married, her family over in Indonesia told her to put in the IUCD for fear that that if the husband mistreats her, she still has a chance to run away.

So I asked her, “Are you happy with the marriage?”

And she said “Yes” and that the family is very nice to her. So I said, “Lie down, I will remove the IUCD for you” and she said, “Yes, please do.” I removed it, and then called in the entire family.

I told them, “Your wife is fine, just work hard on it and you’re going to get pregnant.”

This story was first published on the HUMANS OF KUALA LUMPUR Facebook page. In this photography project, Mushamir Mustafa takes pictures of random people in Kuala Lumpur, who share with him a story from their lives. It features on Malaysiakini every weekend.