“The Chinese government implemented its One Child Policy in 1979 as it was calculated that if the population continued to rise in China, starvation and famine would inevitably ensue by the middle of the 21st century due to each family having an average of 3 children. It was believed that implementing this austere policy would guarantee that the standard of living for all Chinese citizens would double within this same timeframe. The Chinese government utilized fines, economic incentives, and propaganda to enforce this brazen and experimental policy. Images reminding the public of this policy was ubiquitous, painted upon mural walls, printed upon playing cards, calendars, matches, lunch kits, posters etc.

Prior to the advent of modern surveillance technologies, the Chinese government would rank families by household in terms of their adoption of Communist Party values, with families receiving a small post card sized plaque to hang upon their front door which signifies to others how well respected a particular family was deemed to be; although it should be noted this was a completely arbitrary value decided solely by the Chinese government. These plaques had gold stars, 10 in total, which demonstrated the 10 categories which the government deemed important, with one of these gold stars being adherence to the One Child Policy. In rural areas, (e.g. Wang Village in Jiangxi, China) (pronounced “jee-ung-shi”) families were permitted 2 children so long as the children were spaced 5 years apart in terms of age. Families were desperate to have boys as sons were expected to grow up and take care of the family as a whole therefore taking advantage of this policy to its fullest potential, which is why many families within cities virtually always had 1 child each whilst their countryside counterparts often had 2.

The Chinese government strictly enforced the One Child Policy with countless homes demolished and lives destroyed because families refused sterilization, often having the roof ripped apart so that repair was nearly impossible.

Ultrasound examinations were banned during the 1980’s but by the 1990’s, China had more than 100,000 ultrasound scanners, despite physicians being barred from revealing the gender of a fetus to parents as it was feared girls would be aborted during pregnancy. There are accounts of”