Throughout the past three decades, China’s “family planning” policies have sought to control population growth. The one-child policy, in particular, has wrecked many families’ lives, forcing millions of pregnant women, by some estimates, to receive abortions or else pay heavy fines for having more than one child.
The state’s “family planning” offices decide how many children a family can have based on their circumstances, such as whether they live in rural areas, where more labor is needed to support a family, or in the city, where most couples can only support one child.
