My Only Child

ONE-CHILD POLICY. It is estimated that there are over 218 million only children in China today following more than three decades of a one-child policy by their government. Under the ruling, which ran from 1980 to the end of 2015, most couples were only allowed one child under penalty of fines, forfeiture, and even sterilization. Government figures state that around 400 million births were prevented in that time. But some unforeseen circumstances caused much heartache and grief for upwards of 10 million couples who lost that only child and this book tells four of their tragic stories. The couple whose only boy child was seemingly abducted for resale; the 27-year-old only child who died of cancer, leaving her parents alone and childless; the old man who adopted a little girl some years after losing his only child; a mother who sells up everything to give her dying daughter the best years she can. Sensitively written by Wang Ning from all-too-common real life situations, some of them first-hand, and beautifully illustrated by four of the best individual talents in Chinese comics today who have all been touched by this policy.