China's One-Child Policy

Many people have asked us about China's one child policy so we thought we'd share a little about what we know about China's one child policy. The Chinese government initiated this policy so that they would be able to control their ever growing population. Most people don't understand why they would "abandon" all these girls. In Chinese culture, it is the son's responsibility to look after his parents when they grow old. The daughter-in-law marries into this family and is responsible for caring for her in-laws. Therefore, no one will be available to care for her parents when they grow older. Consequently, in a culture that dictates that a family may only have one child, it is favorable to have a son. 

In the rural areas, families can have more than one child because they are farmers and need help on the farm. In addition, if the family is a minority, they, also, are allowed to have more than one child. In some areas, if a family has a daughter first, they are given permission to have another child.

In order for a family to have a child, they must present a certificate stating that they have been given permission to have child. This child will be given free government schooling. If they have an "illegal" child, that child will not get free government schooling and the family is fined heavily for having this extra child.

Concerning the earthquake victims: Many of the children who perished were only children. If a family would like to have more children, they must apply for permission to have another child. A friend of mine brought up the fact that many of these children were middle schoolers and possibly many of these parents are too old to have more children. If a family had more than one child, they could declare that the legal child perished and apply for this second child to become legal, thereby, giving that child the right to an education. I have also read that many Chinese families are stepping forward to adopt children orphaned by the earthquake.

Many children who wait to be adopted are special needs children, like our Hannah. Special needs children raise many red flags in America, but in China a special needs child could be simply a birthmark, a burn or scar, a cleft lip and palate, a limb deformity, or something more serious, such as, a major heart defect or autism. In China, children who have obvious physical defects are destined for a life in the streets; they will never hold a job. In many instances, if the birth mother chooses to keep this child, she will be shunned from all family members. In addition, most Chinese cannot afford the health care for these children. (The wait for a special needs child from China is 9-12 months; ours took 14 months due a paper chase nightmare. However, in the very recent months China has changed some policies hoping to shorten the waiting period. The wait for a healthy baby is two and a half to three years.)

The Chinese government has no tolerance for those parents who choose to abandon their child. When a child is found, a finding ad is placed in the newspaper for a certain number of days with the child's picture and where this child was found. If the parents come forward, they face a heavy fine. We are so fortunate that the orphanage gave us Hannah's finding ad. I can say with certainty that it is doubtful that any parents come forward. We, Americans, are shocked that these parents would abandon their children. Due to their culture and circumstance, sometimes these parents are left with no choice. Unfortunately, infantcide is also prevalent in this culture.

As Dan and I pondered this word abandon, we decided that this was a word that we never use to describe Hannah's parents. We know that out of love, her parents placed her in a place to be found. (We found out some interesting information on Gotcha Day about her story, but it is her story for her to share some day.) It truly is out of love and desperation that these birth mothers and fathers place their babies in places where they would be found quickly. Common places that babies are found are swaddled in a market place, the steps of the local police, and the steps of the orphanage. It is very likely that these parents watch in hiding to make sure that their precious bundle is taken in by others. People have asked if notes are ever left with the babies. Usually not, but sometimes it does happen. Notes will state their birth date. In some remote areas, paper is hard to come by and people are uneducated. 

We traveled with three children for most of our trip and the response to us having three children was incredible. The Chinese people love children. One person that we met would love to have more children, but her husband works for an important cooperation and would be fired if they chose to have more than one child. 

There you have it: China's One Child Policy in a nutshell, as accurately as we can tell anyway.