The 1979 law introduced to limit parents in having only one child was passed in order to control the population growth in China. In some areas of the nation, the only exception to this one child policy is if the first child is a daughter. Anyone who doesn’t follow this policy is denied benefits and public education.
On May 12, 2008 an earthquake killing over 40,000 people, according to an article in New York Times, reported an estimate of 10,000 students deaths. So many parents have lost their only child due to this earthquake, that in almost 30 years, a second exception has finally taken place. Announced by the Chengdu Population and Family Planning Committee, those parents whose only child had died or were gravely hurt due to the quake were exempt to have a second child.
It's obviously an unfortunate tragedy for these parents who have long prayed and supported, in hope for their one child to be the best. I must say that maybe the exemption of being able to have another child could possibly help the mourning of these poor parents, but it would and could never replace the mishap of their "missing" child. There are no claims of this exempt being a replacement, but the idea of allowing these families to have another child is, if not close, a way of redeeming the situation. Thus, how do you then deal with those parents who have undergone medical surgeries, or surpassed the childbearing years, who are not able to produce more? What then could the government provide?
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