China’s unwanted babies once mostly girls, now mostly sick, disabled

TIANJIN, China
(Reuters) –
Fangfang was just a few days old when she was
abandoned on a near freezing New Year's Day in
north China.
She was relatively lucky. Unlike the many who are
found dumped in train stations or toilets, her family
left her at a safe, warm shelter.
Dozens of babies have been secretly dropped off at
"baby safety islands", or "baby hatches", set up
since late last year under a scheme aimed at
protecting unwanted offspring.
"We need to build these islands to protect children
from further injury," Zhang Min, head of a
government-run orphanage in the northern coastal
city of Tianjin where Fangfang was found.
The babies there are dropped off in a cozy room
with pink walls, a cradle and an incubator.
Fangfang was left in a handbag on the floor.
Staff of local institute of children's welfare work
inside a baby hatch in Nanjing
Chinese media frequently report harrowing tales of
babies being abandoned, a problem attributed to
young mothers unaware they are pregnant, the
birth of an unwanted girl in a society which puts
greater value on boys or China's strict family
planning rules.
In one such case, a baby was found in a dumpster
on the outskirts of Beijing. He didn't survive. In
another, firemen in eastern China rescued an
abandoned newborn boy from a sewage pipe.
Chinese orphanages have seen a falling number of
abandoned children since 2005, but officials
estimate some 10,000 unwanted children are still
received each year. An unknown number of
abandoned babies are also adopted informally.
Once orphanages in China were overwhelmingly
filled with girls due to the cultural preference for
male heirs and three decades of a strict one-child
policy – if couples were allowed only one child,
many wanted to make sure it was a boy.
MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH
People walk past next to a baby hatch named
"baby safety island" at the Tianjin Institute
The preference still exists, but it is much less
prevalent as the world's second-largest economy
grows and the country becomes more wealthy. So
the abandoned children tend to be of both genders
– and they are usually seriously sick or disabled.
Fangfang, the first baby abandoned at the Tianjin
hatch, outside the gate of a city orphanage, has
Down's syndrome and congenital heart disease.
Government officials say baby hatches are needed
because of the illnesses and disabilities, often in
need of immediate medical attention. Each
province has to set up a minimum of two by the
end of the year.
"With more and more disabled children, it could
mean they die if we find them 10 minutes late,"
said Ji Gang, an official with the China Centre for
Children's Welfare and Adoption.
Baby hatches have sparked concern among some
they may encourage more parents to abandon
babies. Some were busy when they opened, under
the media spotlight, but the numbers soon
dropped off, welfare officials said.
"Child abandonment exists. Baby hatches won't
encourage more parents to abandon children," said
Wang Zhenyao, a social welfare expert. "They will
only provide more accurate numbers."
Welfare experts and officials note that China has
various charity funds and government health
insurance schemes to help the sick and disabled.
But they also note that China suffers from a lack of
a unified welfare system.
"If there were such a system, a lot of parents
wouldn't abandon their children," said Ji, of the
welfare and adoption center. "We wouldn't have to
build so many baby hatches."

Sent From David Aniemeka