China's One Child Policy Leaves Families Childless Forever

Whenever I read about family-related news items from China, my mind always drifts to the one child policy that the government enforces to maintain some control over population growth.  With over one billion people in a land mass of fixed size with fixed natural resources, population maintenance is critical for the Chinese government.  However, there are often accusations of preferential treatment for the more affluent, leading to a question of how strictly this rule is applied.  Now, the cold reality of the one child policy has come to light, as many families have lost their only child in the recent earthquake, and, being past childbearing years, will have no more.

As the story of the earthquake develops, and the death count rises, more and more parents learn of their children's fates.  Some of the "fortunate" couples have lost young children, and are therefore likely to be able to have another child.  However, many parents, such as those of university aged children, can no longer have children (or are too old to raise a baby) and are therefore left childless for the remainder of their lives.  Unfortunately, the care of the elderly in China does not seem to be a high priority for the socialist government there.  In fact, the country is struggling to care for it's elderly, and the majority need to depend on their children to care for them.

And that is where this earthquake's aftershocks will be felt for years to come.  As these suddenly childless individuals age, they no longer have the support system of offspring to help with their care.  They can no longer depend on their child to supplement their nutritional, material, or financial needs.  They have become, as a result of the combination of this quake and the one child policy, an additional burden on an already taxed economy.

Child bearing is a right of all individuals.  People should be allowed to have children as they see fit, not just to care for them as they age, but to ensure their family line continues down as far as nature will allow.  To deny them such a basic right, regardless of the justification, is terrible.  And then to allow the more wealthy to procreate seemingly at will?  The irony there is that the ones with enough financial means to weather the loss of a single child are the ones who have paid for the privilege to have multiple children, while those who depended upon (or expected to depend upon) their children are now left to suffer.

My heart breaks as I watch and read the coverage of the earthquake and the subsequent rescue attempts.  However, when combined with the realization that many of these people's hopes for survival were tied to their now dead children, it makes things that much worse.

---

As a complete aside, I was made aware of a BBC report from May 2002 that warned of the potential risk for earthquakes in places where large volumes of water are held by a dam.  The report mentions the Three Gorges Dam in a neighbouring province.  It is a chilling read, knowing what has happened there recently.

Comments

[Don Mills Diva]

I coludn't agree more. Having children is a biological imperative - to deny someone that is akin to denying them food or water or shelter: it breaks my heart.

[kittenpie]

I would point out two things, just as asides, not in any way to take away from how horrible it would be to lose any child, let alone your only one:

- "the ones with enough financial means to weather the loss of a single child are the ones who have paid for the privilege to have multiple children" - perhaps you mean only in the sense of being cared for in old age, but really, I don't think any financial security helps heal the loss.

- also, not that I think being able to have another child would fill that place, either, but there certainly are a surfeit of orphans who could be that solace to a couple unable to have more of their own, should they want another child to care for. After the quake, there may well be more right in that region who need families. I hope that perhaps the need of those children and those parents can come together and maybe help heal a little.