University of Otago PhD candidate Aaron Hu is researching the extreme measures young lesbian, gay and bi-sexual (LGB) Chinese people are now going to to appease those expectations.
She said many were entering into what she called formative marriages, and she was studying its impact on their mental health.
China had an LGB population of about 70 million people, but homosexuality was still considered to be forbidden.
She had interviewed about 30 LGB Chinese people via the internet and found many of them were feeling pressure from their family to continue their family’s bloodline.
Not being married was a source of shame, and all of those interviewed had entered into what was known as a formative, contract or fake marriage.
"In China, a formative marriage is between a gay and a lesbian," she said.
"They’re actually not sexually or romantically attracted to each other, but pretend as a heterosexual couple."
The fake marriage fulfilled their responsibility to their parents, and it also meant they were able to continue exploring or maintaining a same-sex relationship outside of their marriage.
A downside to formative marriages could be backlash from the LGB community.
Homosexuality had been decriminalised and de-pathologised for more than 20 years in China, but same-sex marriage was still not legal and the LGB community still faced a lot of stigma and discrimination.
Ms Hu said one of the men she interviewed talked about how his parents took him to the hospital when they found out he was gay, because they thought he had some sort of mental health disorder.
Very few parents of the people interviewed knew their child was a member of the LGB community.
Some interviewees might have told some of their closest friends that their marriage was not real, Ms Hu said.
"I think they are quite helpless, and they frequently have no other choice."
