Quake Grief Compounded for Single-Child Chinese Families

Loss of child is devastating for those who followed one-child policy
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 15, 2008 9:26 AM CDT
Quake Grief Compounded for Single-Child Chinese Families
Relatives cry as rescuers search for victims in the earthquake-affected Dujiangyan of southwest China's Sichuan province Wednesday, May 14, 2008.    (AP Photo/Color China Photo)

Thousands of parents in China's earthquake-hit Sichuan province are grieving for their children today and for most, the misery is particularly heart-wrenching because they have lost their only child, reports the New York Times. China's one-child policy was strictly enforced in the poor and populous province, and the quake took a heavy toll on its young as schools collapsed.

"Our grief is incomparable,” said one man as he and his wife clothed their daughter's naked body in the morgue. “We got married late, and had a child late. She is our only child.” (More China stories.)

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