Babies in China

China had a huge population growth in the 50's and 60's that caused famines and riots. The government developed their "One Child" policy to limit children in families. They also had regulations as to the age that people could marry and when they could have children. There were fines and penalties for those who exceeded the regulations.

Some women hid their preganancies and later abandoned the children in a place where he or she could be quickly found - a public place or a place where many people pass. The population control has caused smaller families, adequate amounts of food for its still growing population but also a very large orphan population. Because of culture and tradition, male children are perceived as a more valuable asset to the family.

The male child has the responsibility to care for his parents when they are older and to carry on the family name. Daughters marry into other families and are expected to care for the husbands family leaving her family without assistance. When a first born baby is a boy he is generally kept. If the baby is a girl, second, third child, a child born our of marriage or with some abnormality it may be abandoned. Pregnancies are easily terminated in China so these abandoned children were not unwanted. They were loved otherwise they never would have been born in the first place.

It makes me feel better knowing that I won't have to tell our daughter that her birth parents didn't love her so they abandoned her. They did love her otherwise they never would have given birth to her in the first place.