China's One Child Policy: Implications

Many countries have many strange laws and policies, either for the protection of it's citizenry or the environment, or the businesses. But whatever the reason, there is none (I believe) so invasive as China's one-child policy.

Due to the recent disaster in China which caused many families to lose their only child, China has lifted it's one child policy for those families who have lost a child and is allowing them to petition to have another child to replace the one lost.

Due to this recent development, I have decided to analyze the implications of the one child policy in China and basically play "Devil's Advocate" with this issue and look at what it could mean from different perspective for a child-rearing couple in China.

1. Artificial insemination: I would guess that this would be out of the question, because most of the times when this procedure is performed, the mother ends up with multiple babies (up to 8 in some cases) instead of carrying the one that most of us do through natural child birth.

• If this were to happen, what would the government do? Have the family choose just one, like a child chooses a puppy? Maybe send the rest of the babies off to some child labor camp or an orphanage to be adopted by a couple who can't have kids. I don't know.

2. What if a mother naturally produces twins, as twins run in some families.

• This is similar to the artificial insemination scenario.

3. What about adoption?: Is this reserved for people who cannot have children at all?

4. In China, you have a reversal of U.S. policy where birth becomes illegal and abortion legal!

I have nothing against China. The need to control overpopulation for the greater good, is understandable and a noble feat. But I think we can see, here, one of the reasons many people have a negative view of China, and it's attitude towards "human rights".

Personally, I sometimes, wish I had been an only child!