CHINA announced yesterday that it was making exceptions to its one-child policy for some families affected by the earthquake two weeks ago.
As hundreds of soldiers worked yesterday to unblock a debris-clogged river threatening to flood survivors of the earthquake that ravaged Sichuan province, the region`s Population and Family Planning Committee announced that families whose child was killed, severely injured or disabled in the disaster would be allowed to have another child.
Yesterday`s emergency announcement affects parents in thecity of Chengdu, which has 10million people, as well as two of the hardest-hit cities, Dujiangyan and Pengzhou, The Australian has reported.
The May 12 quake was particularly painful to many Chinese because it killed so many only children.
China`s one-child policy was launched in the late 1970s to control its exploding population and ensure better education and healthcare.
The law limits couples to one child but allows exceptions for ethnic groups, rural families and families where both parents were only children.
The death toll from the quake was revised up last night to 65,080, with more than 23,000 people still missing.
Officials have not been able to estimate the number of children killed, but at least 5498 Chinese children are believed to have been left on their own, either because they were orphaned or separated from their parents.
About 7000 classrooms were destroyed in the quake, which hit during school hours.
Many Chinese have shown interest in adopting earthquake orphans, and yesterday`s announcement says there are no limits on the number of earthquake orphans a family can adopt.
A couple that adopts will not be penalised if they later have their own biological child.
