The Children of Gaoyou

The readers of this website may already be familiar with the “One Child Rule” and its consequences in China. I wanted to add a quick synopsis of the issues for those not familiar with the details, doing my best to keep young readers sensitivities in mind.

With a population of 1.2 billion, China has been faced with the possibility of its population growth reaching the point that it overwhelms the country’s ability to feed and support its people. In 1979, the government of China instituted the “One Child Rule”, which simply states that each family can only have one child. While there are some exceptions to this rule for rural dwellers and minorities, most of the population must abide by it.

I have received several different answers to the question of what the penalties are for having more than one child. The long and short of it seems to be that the penalties are harsh enough that it just isn’t possible for most familes to have more than one child, regardless of their financial status.

On the positive side, the Chinese Government has estimated that this policy has resulted in the population being 250 to 300 million fewer today, than it would have been without the policy, which is roughly equal to the population of the entire United States.

Then there are the families faced with the horrible dilemma of having a child that they will not be able to keep. About the only way out for those in this situation is to leave the infant wrapped up nice and warm in a public place where he or she will be quickly discovered, and taken to the local orphanage. These public places are known here as “Finding Sites”, and are usually the only link between the children and their origins.

The penalties for leaving infants are as harsh as for keeping them, so the parents must keep their identities secret, which makes it almost impossible for a child to find their birth parents.

After the children are found, they are usually taken to the local police station, and then to the orphanage. A “Finding Ad” is placed in the local paper so that anyone who knows the child or the parents can come forward and identify them. Sometimes this ad includes a picture. Once a period of time has elapsed for a response to the finding ad, the child is then deemed available for adoption. Hopefully then he or she will soon find a new home with a loving family.

Resource for this page

An article “The Effect of China's One-Child Family Policy after 25 Years on the New England Journal of Medicine website