China’s One-Child Policy, introduced in 1979, aimed to control population growth by restricting most families to having only one child. However, the policy had an unintended consequence – a massive number of forced adoptions.
In her book “Daughters of the Bamboo Grove”, journalist Barbara Demick tells the story of twin sisters separated as a result of the policy. The author recalls a surprising encounter in a Guangzhou hotel café, where she found Caucasian couples adopting Chinese babies. This shocking scene revealed the reality behind China’s population control measures, highlighting the human cost and emotional toll on those affected by the one-child policy.
Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-30/how-china-s-one-child-policy-led-to-a-wave-of-forced-adoptions