Warning: Heavy Content.

We have "On Demand" with our Verizon Fios TV service, and through that, HBO has some "free" movies.  Many of which a documentaries, which I LOVE.

However, I think these true stories are going to be the end of me.

Last night I watched 90 minutes about the human trafficking in China, called "China's Stolen Children".  70,000 children a year are being kidnapped and sold to the highest bidder.  China's "one child" policy has left the country with families desperately wanting sons (this we have known for years), but now, needing women as suitable wives.

Hundreds of thousands of female fetuses have been aborted (abortion is part of life in China, the clinics actually place ads on the sides of buses.) When I heard this, my first thought was, "How do they know it's a girl?"  Yes, they are waiting to abort at the 20 to 25 week point.  Can you imagine that choice for a mother?  Have a girl, and your husband's family line ends.  Or, abort a baby you have been carrying for 5 months.  I would imagine many times the choice her husband's, not hers.

Now, this blog is not to discuss abortion.  Period.  But, when I heard the account of a women in a small village who went into hiding with the pregnancy of her 2nd child (additional children incur a LARGE fine, that could leave a farm family devastated), she was hunted down by the authorities and given an "abortion medicine"- AT EIGHT MONTHS PREGNANT, I was absolutely horrified.

Needless to say, she delivered a baby.  A boy.  Who survived, only to grow up and have his five year old son kidnapped.  The story of this couple 7 months into the search for their son was devastating to watch. The boy's mother just traced his face on a photo with her finger over and over again.   And the fact that its a common occurrence in China is making me nuts.  

The Chinese government has forbade the parents to speak to foreigners about it.  They will not allow the parents to post fliers, concerned that tourists will catch on to the number of children missing.  

The documentary also told the story of a lone detective trying to help these families steal their children back.  During the filming, they saved a teenage girl who had been sold to a brothel.  He has recovered around 100 victims, but the stress has taken its toll and he has decided to leave the profession, working only on the cases he currently has open.

While the Chinese government will not admit that the one child policy has created a black market for human trafficking, they have stated that the law has left an unbalanced society and will re-evaluate in 2010.

I am outraged.  Totally and completely outraged.  I know I can pray for them, but what else?  What else can I do?  

Comments

Insane Mama said…
OMG... I traveled in China for weeks, backpacking and hiking and I was outraged at what I saw beyond the city limits. People hiding, families hiding. It was horrible. And the amount of children that live on the streets. Yikes!
Tami said…
I don't even know what to say, how sad.

Heavy........but worth saying and then some!
Unknown said…
I saw this documentary and it sickened me!
scargosun said…
Boycott. That is what I do. I realize I am only one person but, if enough people stopped buying their goods maybe it would get though someday.
Ash said…
All the feel-good publicity of the Olympics really made my skin crawl. It was a sugar-coated version of China, IMO. I wish more people knew what truly goes on in that country. I can't even imagine the plight of those parents.

I am hoping now that the Olympics are over, the media will quit cutting China the slack it does not deserve.

EM
S Club Mama said…
This breaks my heart. They'll re-evaluate in 2010!!! What? That's 2 more years of families in despair, of babies dying.

I can't imagine not even having the choice of having more than one baby. I know that right now we'd be hurting pretty bad financially if we had another one but it's not illegal (and we don't get fined for it). Those poor mommies.

I don't know what you/we can do. It seems like a problem a big organization like the UN should care about, but it doesn't seem like anyone has done anything (except that nice man and I'm sure a handful of others).
Unknown said…
What an amazing story. This is so very sad and I wish that they would do something about this. Considering the Olympics were just held you would think that someone would have used it as a platform to try to get policy reform. Oh wait I forget that we are discussion China after all. A celebrity needs to take this on as an issue and shed light on the atrocities that are happening.
Ann Harrison said…
Before the Olympics began all media was told that their content would have to go through Chinese authority. Every word was monitored.
This documentary shows that the Chinese Government should be held to the standards of the UN's Human Rights laws and something needs to be done now.
Thank goodness this documentary was made.
Thank goodness HBO aired it.
Thank goodness you decided to write about it Tiffany.
Connie said…
And thats why I don't watch ...
If I were to watch I'd worry myself into a breakdown.
Jen said…
Ok so now I am really going to cry. I am a little over emotional day.
That is terrible. Terrible just doesn't seem to cut it. I know this might be wrong but that is the reason, I don't watch the news, Oprah, or things like that. I like living in my little bubble.
But I to am outraged!
Live.Love.Eat said…
Oh my gosh. This is heart wrenching. I did not know most of this, so I am really glad you shared. It is absolutely disgusting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so lucky to live in this country!!
Sherri said…
This makes me sick!!!! As bad as things are getting in our own country I am so glad that I live here!!!!
Amy said…
That is heartbreaking. I have not seen the documentary but I am going to watch it.
Coach Krista said…
And our nation is so worried about other countries who's biblical wars will never end when innocent children are at stake in many other areas of the world. What a shame to live in that fear.
LaQuintamomof3 said…
Tragic, truly!
I have not seen the documetary, and probably shouldn't until I am a little less hormonal.
Thanks for sharing.
You are right, pray we should!
We are all blessed beyond belief.
Anonymous said…
This makes me sad too! This is why I couldn't really enjoy the Olympics....they didn't tell THESE stories obviously....I don't know....its not like any countries really have any leverage over China to do anything about it....China kinds of owns the US right now....let me know if you can think of anything additional to prayer...I'm in!
WheresMyAngels said…
It is so horrible and people sometimes wonder why people adopt from other countries, but they are also trying to save the children.
Aunt Julie said…
Don't you think that the "China" that we saw on display at the Olympics was just the country the government wanted us to see? I've heard some of these stories before. I agree with you--absolutely outrageous!
I remember watching a documentary about this (one child law in China) in college and it's never left me. Glad they have a policy in place to re evalute in 2010. Seriously. WHAT??????
sassy stephanie said…
Man, how to respond to something like that. I can't imagine facing choices like this. What can you do? Spread the word.
China has its one child policy - but so many other countries also have a culture of disparaging the daughters. Where they are aborted or abandoned every day. And you wonder who the boys they choose to keep will marry one day. It is so very tragic.

I am reading a book about China right now - and it has a humorous bent to it - but some of the things that go on over there are unreal - "Lost on Planet China" by Maarten Troost.
Schmerica said…
These type of occurrences that are ignored by the government on such a large scale make me sick to my stomach and truly feel powerless ("dust in the wind").

Wish I had an answer for you regarding what we can do...
Lula! said…
Sigh...
You just touched on what makes me see red, more than anything else. Human sex trafficking...I hate it. That and cancer are my two most-hateds.

I cannot even bear to think of this kind of atrocity. I just have to pray...
Maternal Mirth said…
China is one of the MOST EVIL governments in all of human existence!!

Everytime I saw Mao's picture during the Olympics, I wanted to wretch.

Sick, just sick.
Debbie said…
Oh Tiffany..that is heart wrenching. I don't know how you were able to sit through all of it. I certainly wouldn't have been able to. I don't know what we can do....

I actually came over to tell you that I ordered all the other books in the Twilight series after reading the first one. I even ordered them in hardback...free shipping only two bucks more than soft cover. I am so sucked in now. I just loved Twilight and told my husband we have a date for the movie in November!
I have seen that one too. Its really sad!! I feel so helpless watching it.
Anonymous said…
I have not seen the documentary. I would be totally outraged. I already think the one child policy is crock. Couldn't imagine living there, and feel for the people who have to chose like that.
S Club Mama said…
I had a friend that went on a missions trip to China this summer just before the Olympics. He said that other than Christianity, abortion is the one thing that you just don't talk about there. He said he heard of missionaries finding children abandoned/dead in the woods on the road. It just makes me incredibly sad but also I feel so blessed to be living here. I mean, America isn't exactly the best it's ever been now but it could be so much worse.
Being Honest said…
This makes me so, so sad.
Thank you for posting a topic that is not typical blog fodder. My parent have spent a lot of time in China, and actually have a Chinese teacher living with them for the year. This is one of my mom's "crusades." She came home just heartbroken about what was happening, and has many personal stories confirming this. Thanks for opening our eyes once again.
Amy said…
This is so horribly sad. I am shocked. I had no idea it was this bad.
Mommy Dharlz said…
wow... anyway, i have a tag for u girl.. please visit my blog site...
Rachel Berry said…
Found you through SITS and after reading this post I'm am more shocked then I was before, I knew about the abortion and stuff but man the other you said that is going on is HORRIBLE. Those poor mothers abortion medicine! What!! Pray we must. It's all we can do.
Jayne said…
That is just disgusting. I feel very uncomfortable with a lot of China's policies and actions....this is just plain wrong and the way they are with Tibet is another that makes me so SO angry. I also try to boycott their exports whenever I can too.
Melissa said…
This is one of those things you would like to pretend is not happening. It's so hard to imagine and when I look at my 3 children, it upsets me that much more. Hard to believe just seeing the Olympics held over there and looking like nothing is wrong in their world, huh? I hope that makes sense.
Then with the earthquake killing a lot of children, it makes it that much more horrible. It's hard to bury my head in the sand and pretend it's not real. Prayer is our best option.
Unknown said…
It's heartbreaking.
thotlady said…
I used to work for a private, non-profit adoption agency. We handled Chinese adoptions. Very sad. As you can imagine, most of the infants were female.

One story...I can only tell one because it is so sad.

A Chinese woman had a baby girl as her first child. Of course her husband and his family wanted a boy, so she was forced to give up her daughter to an orphanage. Each day this woman would stand outside the orphanage hoping to get a glimpse of her daughter.

Finally after about three days, one of the orphanage workers came out to talk to the woman. She told her..."you cannot come here each day, it is not allowed and it is not safe for you".

I can only imagine how this mother's poor heart was breaking. Having her daughter ripped from her right after she was born. To carry a child for nine months and then nothing.

This is a sad, sad, sad situation. Every time I watched the Olympics this past month I thought of their awful culture that would allow this to happen time and time again.
Rhea said…
It's just so hard to imagine that in this day and age things like this happen. We forget how horrible so many countries are and what their people are going through as a result, because we're insulated over here in the U.S.

My heart hurts for these people. It really does. When you figure out what else we can do, let me know. I'm in.
A.B. said…
That is soooo sad! We have some friends in the process of adopting from china and I never realized how bad the situation was and is until they began their journey. It's a sad, sad reality.
Heather said…
I have SUCH a hard time watching things like this because my biggest fear is someone taking my girls. I can't imagine.
Very sad and disturbing. Makes you wonder about a society that governs with such cruelty.
Unknown said…
I knew about the 1 child policy, but not the stolen children. I guess I just didn't want to think of the consequences of such a policy. Whenever I see a Caucasian family with their adopted Chinese daughters it has always made me think, "Who are those boys going to marry?" But the alternative to being adopted outside of China is no alternative at all for these little girls.
Jennie said…
there is not much you can say, but we can pray, becuase he who can move mountains and part he sea and hear our prayers. I am not trying to sound "churchy", but problems that huge need us to ask helkp from someone bigger than us all.
Kaza said…
I know. Seriously, I know. Blog posts like this are important though, I think. If only to raise awareness, which leads to more activism. So by just posting how it made you feel, you've done something.
Dee said…
I recently read a book called Mao's Last Dancer about the life of a Chinese boy Li Cunxin (google him) who became a famous dancer in China's Ballet, quite an eye opener on life in China.
Sandy N said…
Awful! So Awful!There arent enough words to express!
-Bridget said…
I have to give you props for watching the documentary. I can't do it. It's too hearbreaking for me. I'm a wimp that prefers to hide her head in the sand. If you figure out what you can do to make a difference, let me know. I'll be right behind you.

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