One Child Thoughts

When I go back to the States, I often get asked about China's one-child policy. People ask me if Chinese families can really only have one child and if there is a strong preference for boys. I usually say that, yes, the policy is in effect and enforced; however, there are exceptions, especially for the rich (they pay the fines and bribes), the rural poor (they try to avoid being caught), and ethnic minority groups (the government wants to promote minorities in China so they're legally allowed more children). Regarding a preference for boys, I don't tend to notice that among my students and friends. I have just as many girls in my classes as boys. In fact, my classes usually have a majority of girls (language, music, and art majors tend to be girls, while boys tend to excel more in, or are steered toward, math and science). Chinese couples that I know who give birth to a daughter seem just as happy and excited and loving towards their daughters as the couples who have boys. And, especially in the cities, most Chinese people genuinely seem to think that one child is enough. They tend to think that with the costs of housing and education, more than one child would be more than they could afford (granted, that perspective may be propaganda-induced)

Every once in a while, however, I run into situations that remind me that there are other sides to the one-child policy and those negative stories that we hear in America about abandonment, forced abortions, and a dislike for daughters, while probably not the norm, are true. At the orphanage I volunteer at, the negative side of the one-child policy seems to play out on a small scale. The only boys at the orphanage are disabled, either mentally or physically. The five healthy infants and two healthy toddlers that are currently at the orphanage are all girls, along with two older healthy girls. Two days ago, I was talking to a former student and she began to share some of her family background with me. Her parents already had a daughter, her older sister, but wanted a son. They decided to risk it and had another baby (my student). Because she was a girl, she was "hidden" by being sent to be raised by her grandparents for a time. My student's parents then had a third child which was a boy. In the end though, my student's father lost his job as a government worker and ended up working in real estate/construction. (Tragically, my student's brother died as a teenager from an illness that wasn't supposed to be fatal. Her father still hasn't recovered from the loss of the son.) This same student told me that she has a cousin who, in an attempt to have a son and gain control and status in the family, has given up two daughters.

Since I now live in a more rural location and the students I teach now are mostly from villages and the countryside, I bet if I could get them to talk candidly, I would hear more stories like my student from Yichang told me. I've read countless books about China with scores of stories like my student's. That kind of behavior is still atypical, but not unheard of.

The most common complaint I hear from Chinese students about their country is about the population--"There are too many people." Too many people want to get into universities and graduate schools. Too many people make jobs scarce. Too many people make travel impossible during holidays. Too many people make housing hard to find. Too many people . . .

I don't know what kind of humane, plausible solution you come up with to deal with overpopulation, but I know that when people are giving away babies, something's not right.