19 March 2014
Article from bbc.com found here
A baby hatch, or center where parents can leave their unwanted children, in China had to close its doors to new children due to the hundreds of abandoned babies overwhelming their facilities (the facility now holds 1,121 babies and young people and has 1,274 in foster homes). Most of the babies are sick with diseases such as Down's syndrome or cerebral palsy because the parents either don't want the child or are afraid that they cannot afford to properly care for it. Because of the strict population control laws in China, most parents can only have one child, and the usual preference is for a healthy boy. In December, the Chinese legislature eased the law for couples to two children if either parent is an only child.
This was a very sobering article to read. I can't imagine living in a world where I might be forced to give up a child due to financial inability or sheer practicality. The population control laws make sense logically, but the heartache and suffering that comes from that logic is tragic. Although these baby hatches are a sad necessity, I am glad that there are now places for these children to be cared for instead of being left in the streets as they used to be.
I agree that this is a very tragic situation. I don't necessarily think though that the population control laws are very logical. While China might have an overpopulation problem and might think that limiting parents to 1 child is the solution, bigger problems might arise in the future. If the number being born is lower than those dying, China might have a major labor problem in the future.
ReplyDeleteThis is terrible. I don't know how people are able to give up their children, and I feel wretched about all the handicap children not having homes. This problem in China is worse than I previously thought about it. It isn't right to so rapidly increase our population, but these population controls seem to be doing more damage than they are actually helping the issue at hand. I believe that the population will even itself off without China taking drastic measures to do so.
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