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One-child policy

Anesthesiologist Liu Jianmin prepares for an abortion at a clinic run by Marie Stopes International in Xi'an in central China's Shaanxi province

Abortion access in China has changed drastically amid declining birth rate

Abortion

For more than 30 years, the Chinese government had restricted most people to having only one child. Illegal and forced abortions were common, and it led to a massive drop in the country’s birth rate. A new policy that started last year allows couples to have up to three children now, but many people aren’t interested.

A child is supported on the balance beam during classes at a gym

China now allows 3 kids per family, but many couples say they can’t afford it

Reproductive rights
Mother plays with toddler

China’s Gen X moms turn to IVF in desperate quest for a second baby

Reproductive rights
Rebecca Kanthor had a second child in China before the one-child policy change, but she's not Chinese so it didn't apply to her.

Before China’s one-child policy was dropped, some women had babies in secret

Development
Nelson Mandela at Heaven's gates

Many considered Nelson Mandela a saint

Global Scan
Film director Zhang Yimou

Chinese film director admits violating one-child policy

Lifestyle & Belief

Popular film director Zhang Yimou has confirmed he has three children with his wife, in violation of China’s strict one-child policy.

A girl walks along a street in Beijing. China has announced reforms to the policy of allowing most families to have only one child.

China loosens its one-child policy in the face of a disturbing population trend

Global Politics

The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party announced wide-ranging reforms this week, from liberalizing markets to ending forced labor camps to altering one of the most well-known social engineering policies in the world – the one-child policy. But when it comes to children, the step is a small one.

China invites children adopted to US to return to their roots

The Chinese government has sponsored 90 Chinese children and their adopted American families to visit their native country with “Heritage Tours.”

Is China’s one-child policy coming to an end?

Development & Education

As China’s population ages, many consider overturning the country’s controversial policy.

Adopted Chinese Children Learn About Their Roots on ‘Heritage Tour’

Official statistics show that since 1999 over 64,000 Chinese babies, most of them girls, have been adopted by Americans. China’s one child policy has caused an increase in the number of children abandoned, many of whom end up in orphanages. But China has changed a great deal in the last two decades, and so has […]