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[Nanfu Wang narrating]
I was born in China in 1985,
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a time when China's population crisis
was making headlines around the world.
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00:03:15,779 --> 00:03:17,656
There are more than a billion Chinese.
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00:03:17,740 --> 00:03:20,451
That one big statistic,
more than anything else,
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00:03:20,534 --> 00:03:23,579
is at the heart of that country's
huge economic problems.
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00:03:23,662 --> 00:03:25,372
By the middle of the next century,
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if China's families have
an average of three children,
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there will be starvation.
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However, with one child per family
the standard of living doubles.
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00:03:34,214 --> 00:03:37,801
So now there's a desperate effort
under way to control the population,
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to limit families to just one child.
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00:03:40,763 --> 00:03:45,684
Chinese officials are using fines,
economic incentives and propaganda.
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00:03:45,768 --> 00:03:48,062
Billboards like this one
are up all over the country.
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They have a long way to go.
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Six years before I was born,
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China launched its One-Child Policy.
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00:04:04,495 --> 00:04:07,331
I grew up seeing reminders
of the policy everywhere.
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They were painted on the walls,
printed on playing cards...
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calendars,
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00:04:16,715 --> 00:04:17,841
matches,
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00:04:18,676 --> 00:04:21,637
snack boxes, posters.
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00:04:22,346 --> 00:04:25,933
All of them blended into
the background of life in China.
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00:04:27,226 --> 00:04:31,355
I never thought much about
what it meant for me-- or anyone--
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until I learned that I was
going to be a mom.
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Our baby was born seven weeks early.
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I was not prepared.
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Right after he was born,
the nurses took him away from me.
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00:05:04,263 --> 00:05:08,475
The separation and fear
for his health was traumatic.
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00:05:11,895 --> 00:05:16,817
Twelve days later, I was finally able
to take him home and hold him.
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00:05:17,526 --> 00:05:19,319
This is Mama's hair.
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00:05:21,739 --> 00:05:24,992
Becoming a mother felt like
giving birth to my memories.
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00:05:26,785 --> 00:05:30,247
A rush of images
from my early life came back to me.
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I thought of my own parents
and the name they gave me.
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They chose the name Nanfu
before I was born.
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Nan means "man,"
and fu means "pillar."
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They hoped for a boy who would
grow up to be the pillar of the family.
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00:05:50,768 --> 00:05:52,853
When I was born a girl,
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they named me Nanfu anyway,
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hoping that I would
grow up strong like a man.
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00:06:03,363 --> 00:06:05,783
I remembered the plaques
the government hung
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00:06:05,866 --> 00:06:09,119
on all the front doors
in my village every year,
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signifying each family's commitment
to the Communist Party's values.
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Each plaque was decorated with stars
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indicating how well the family performed,
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including a star for whether the family
had no more than one child.
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Our family always missed that star.
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00:06:33,143 --> 00:06:36,438
I remembered
being sent to middle school in the city
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because our village
only had an elementary school.
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00:06:40,442 --> 00:06:44,196
Most of the city kids
came from one-child families.
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00:06:45,114 --> 00:06:48,367
Whenever someone found out
that I had a brother,
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I felt embarrassed,
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as if our family had done something wrong
by having a second child.
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Under the One-Child Policy,
how could you have my younger brother?
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00:07:11,223 --> 00:07:12,641
We live in a rural area.
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00:07:12,724 --> 00:07:15,811
In rural areas,
people could have two children.
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00:07:16,603 --> 00:07:21,275
However, the two children
have to be five years apart.
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00:07:21,358 --> 00:07:25,195
That's why you and your younger brother
are five years apart.
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That's why we could have two children.
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00:07:28,490 --> 00:07:30,242
Are you looking at Grandma?
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Grandma is telling us
the story of Mommy's birth.
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00:07:36,623 --> 00:07:39,334
The One-Child Policy
was very strict back then.
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00:07:39,418 --> 00:07:42,421
I personally witnessed
many homes demolished...
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because families refused
forced sterilization.
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Their roof was ripped apart.
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At that time, ultrasound gender tests
were not allowed.
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When I was about to
give birth to your brother,
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00:08:02,232 --> 00:08:09,114
your grandma put a bamboo basket
in the living room and said...
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"If it's another girl,
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00:08:13,327 --> 00:08:18,582
we'll put her in the basket
and leave her in the street."
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00:08:19,291 --> 00:08:25,088
The midwife called out, "It's a boy!
It's a boy," just as the baby was born.
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00:08:25,172 --> 00:08:27,883
Your grandpa was thrilled.
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00:08:27,966 --> 00:08:32,596
He yelled happily: "Let's set off
firecrackers and celebrate!"
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00:08:46,318 --> 00:08:49,613
Your little brother was born in 1900.
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00:08:51,823 --> 00:08:58,747
After you were born,
they were going to sterilize your mom.
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Your grandma didn't dare to resist.
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00:09:02,376 --> 00:09:05,045
She almost allowed them
to sterilize your mom.
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But I stood up to it.
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Eventually, they agreed that she could
have a second child after five years.
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I could stomach five years.
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Who ordered the sterilization?
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Village officials.
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Baby, things are great now.
Everything is a lot better.
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00:09:31,697 --> 00:09:35,742
You have it so much easier than your mom.
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00:09:38,370 --> 00:09:42,332
I moved to the US six years before my son was born.
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Bringing him back to my village
for the first time
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00:09:46,837 --> 00:09:51,675
showed me how traumatic it was
just to become a parent in China.
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00:10:01,059 --> 00:10:04,646
Visiting the village kindergarten
where my mom teaches,
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I remembered that we had textbooks
about the One-Child Policy
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00:10:07,858 --> 00:10:09,318
since we were kids.
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00:10:11,778 --> 00:10:16,366
Our life is so great
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00:10:16,992 --> 00:10:19,870
I used to think that I knew everything
there was to know
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00:10:19,953 --> 00:10:21,955
about the One-Child Policy.
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00:10:23,790 --> 00:10:27,961
But now I wondered if the thoughts I had
were really my own
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00:10:28,045 --> 00:10:30,047
or if they were simply learned.
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00:10:38,221 --> 00:10:42,059
I asked my neighbor to take me to see
the former head of my village,
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who was in charge
when the One-Child Policy began.
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He was one of the people
my grandpa argued with
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about sterilizing my mom.
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Come here and open the door, please.
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I'm teacher Zaodi's daughter.
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Oh!
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I was wondering
why your face looks so familiar.
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Teacher Zaodi's daughter
is visiting from the US.
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Are you Nanfu?
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00:11:12,923 --> 00:11:14,216
Yes, I'm Nanfu.
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00:11:14,591 --> 00:11:16,343
I almost didn't recognize you.
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00:11:16,426 --> 00:11:19,262
Yeah, I've changed a lot.
But I still look a lot like my mom.
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00:11:19,346 --> 00:11:22,516
Very much alike! That's why I was
staring at you for such a long time.
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Do people in the US play cards?
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00:11:26,937 --> 00:11:28,480
Yes, they do.
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00:11:34,611 --> 00:11:36,905
What positions did you hold?
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I was the Village Team Leader,
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the Village Party Secretary
and then the Village Chief.
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00:11:44,996 --> 00:11:47,499
The One-Child Policy
was very difficult to implement.
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00:11:47,582 --> 00:11:50,585
Why was it so difficult?
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00:11:50,669 --> 00:11:52,671
The One-Child Policy...
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00:11:53,839 --> 00:11:58,468
Traditionally, everyone wants a son.
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00:11:58,552 --> 00:12:01,179
While the One-Child Policy
was very strict,
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00:12:01,263 --> 00:12:04,808
it was very difficult to change
how people think.
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00:12:05,767 --> 00:12:08,061
Ordinary folks just didn't buy into it.
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00:12:09,312 --> 00:12:12,732
How would you explain
when they wouldn't buy in?
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00:12:13,316 --> 00:12:17,863
We'd persuade them using propaganda.
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00:12:30,584 --> 00:12:34,463
There are opera and dance performances
in every village.
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I've written operas
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to promote the benefits of only one child.
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00:12:58,820 --> 00:13:04,201
My goal was to promote
the One-Child Policy using folk arts.
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00:13:17,631 --> 00:13:23,178
Fewer children makes for a happier life!
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00:13:24,429 --> 00:13:26,765
Men like Liu Xianwen worked all over China
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00:13:26,848 --> 00:13:29,434
to promote the One-Child Policy.
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00:13:31,144 --> 00:13:33,605
Since before I could even speak,
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I was surrounded by messages
praising the policy.
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00:13:37,567 --> 00:13:39,736
-There was TV.
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00:13:39,819 --> 00:13:43,114
We have taken
the One-Child Policy to heart.
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00:13:43,198 --> 00:13:46,701
Our lives are so great now
thanks to the Party's foresight!
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00:13:46,785 --> 00:13:48,161
Theatrical performances.
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00:13:48,245 --> 00:13:50,914
The One-Child Policy is truly great!
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00:13:50,997 --> 00:13:52,916
The One-Child Policy gives us hope!
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00:13:52,999 --> 00:13:56,753
Fully implement our national policy!
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00:13:56,836 --> 00:13:58,838
And even children's songs.
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00:14:00,674 --> 00:14:06,304
If you have a second child
You violate the law
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00:14:06,846 --> 00:14:09,182
Then you'll be detained
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00:14:09,266 --> 00:14:13,770
If you try to escape
You will end up in jail
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00:14:13,853 --> 00:14:15,939
Think twice about it
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00:14:16,022 --> 00:14:19,234
Don't say I didn't warn you
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00:14:22,654 --> 00:14:26,533
And just like everyone else,
I joined in the choir.
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This was me performing
propaganda songs.
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00:14:31,871 --> 00:14:35,417
We all had the same makeup,
the same dresses
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00:14:35,500 --> 00:14:37,794
and the same mentality.
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00:14:41,590 --> 00:14:45,051
What did you say
when promoting the policy?
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00:14:45,135 --> 00:14:52,100
I said that the policy came from above.
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00:14:52,183 --> 00:14:57,897
We below didn't want to do this
but had no choice.
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That was all the explanation
that I could give.
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00:15:03,111 --> 00:15:05,238
Otherwise we had to demolish their homes
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or take their possessions.
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00:15:10,410 --> 00:15:15,248
It was really tough
being an official back then.
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00:15:16,541 --> 00:15:20,754
We had to carry out the orders,
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00:15:20,837 --> 00:15:26,718
but people resisted.
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They resisted.
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00:15:34,309 --> 00:15:39,773
When you saw a home being demolished,
did you think it was cruel?
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00:15:40,607 --> 00:15:42,275
It might be cruel.
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00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:46,321
But policy is policy. What could we do?
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Like I said,
there were instances when women
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refused sterilization
in a particular village,
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00:16:03,046 --> 00:16:09,969
and then all the county officials
had to go...
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00:16:11,221 --> 00:16:14,182
and collectively force her
to be sterilized.
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00:16:14,265 --> 00:16:17,936
It was really fucked up.
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00:16:18,019 --> 00:16:20,146
I couldn't bear to watch.
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00:16:20,230 --> 00:16:25,652
Honestly, I couldn't take part in that.
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00:16:25,735 --> 00:16:28,571
I just stood and watched.
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00:16:33,993 --> 00:16:36,913
We were rural village officials.
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We had to follow the chain of command.
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00:16:41,543 --> 00:16:44,963
Insubordination is not tolerated.
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00:16:57,726 --> 00:17:01,688
As I was leaving, I asked my neighbor who went with me
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00:17:01,771 --> 00:17:05,734
if he could take me to meet some women
who were affected by the policy.
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00:17:05,817 --> 00:17:10,405
Can we go visit some women
who were forced to abort?
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00:17:10,488 --> 00:17:13,950
I don't think you should.
What do you want to film there?
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I just want to ask them
about their experience.
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00:17:16,286 --> 00:17:22,459
It's best you don't.
Who wants to recall such painful memories?
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00:17:23,042 --> 00:17:26,087
But they've never had the chance
to talk about it.
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00:17:27,172 --> 00:17:30,675
I'm telling you,
you'd better not get him into any trouble!
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00:17:30,759 --> 00:17:31,885
I know. I know.
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00:17:31,968 --> 00:17:35,472
If you get him into any trouble,
your mom will have to pay for it.
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00:17:35,555 --> 00:17:37,265
You mark my words.
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00:17:37,348 --> 00:17:39,559
I don't care
that your uncle is an official.
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00:17:39,642 --> 00:17:41,269
No, no, you misunderstood.
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00:17:41,352 --> 00:17:43,229
If you dare make trouble for him...
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00:17:43,313 --> 00:17:44,230
I won't. I won't.
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00:17:44,314 --> 00:17:46,107
Don't make trouble.
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00:17:46,191 --> 00:17:47,317
Don't worry. I won't.
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00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:48,777
He's an honest man.
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00:17:48,860 --> 00:17:50,570
I know. I know.
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00:18:16,137 --> 00:18:20,475
That night, I decided
it was best to speak to someone I know.
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00:18:21,434 --> 00:18:23,561
So I went to see the local midwife
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00:18:23,645 --> 00:18:28,066
who delivered all the babies
in the village, including myself.
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00:18:29,526 --> 00:18:31,110
She was happy to see me.
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00:18:31,194 --> 00:18:33,655
She showed me photos
of my grandma,
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00:18:33,738 --> 00:18:36,950
who used to be in the same
propaganda band with her.
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00:18:37,492 --> 00:18:39,786
I used to have a photo with your grandma.
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00:18:39,869 --> 00:18:42,622
I gave it to your mom.
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00:18:43,456 --> 00:18:45,166
Your grandma was also in this photo,
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00:18:45,250 --> 00:18:47,961
but I can't make out which one she is.
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00:18:48,044 --> 00:18:52,340
How many babies did you deliver
over your career?
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00:18:52,423 --> 00:18:58,429
I really don't know
how many I delivered.
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00:18:58,513 --> 00:19:03,893
What I do know
is that I've done a total of
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00:19:03,977 --> 00:19:09,983
between 50,000
and 60,000 sterilizations
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00:19:10,066 --> 00:19:11,651
and abortions.
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00:19:12,527 --> 00:19:15,822
I counted this out of guilt
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because I aborted and killed babies.
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00:19:20,702 --> 00:19:25,957
Many I induced alive and killed.
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00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,210
My hands trembled doing it.
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00:19:29,294 --> 00:19:33,214
But I had no choice.
It was the government's policy.
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00:19:33,298 --> 00:19:37,510
We didn't make decisions.
We only executed orders.
213
00:19:44,100 --> 00:19:48,730
The medical team was organized
on the county level.
214
00:19:48,813 --> 00:19:52,191
For 20 years we traveled around
to do sterilizations and abortions.
215
00:19:55,528 --> 00:19:57,655
How long
does a sterilization procedure take?
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00:19:57,739 --> 00:20:00,617
Sterilization takes ten minutes.
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00:20:03,995 --> 00:20:07,206
On my operating table,
I'd do over 20 a day.
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00:20:09,250 --> 00:20:14,130
In those days, women were abducted
by government officials,
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00:20:14,213 --> 00:20:20,845
tied up, and dragged to us like pigs.
220
00:20:28,353 --> 00:20:30,521
I've been retired for 27 years.
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00:20:30,605 --> 00:20:32,106
I've established a rule:
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00:20:32,190 --> 00:20:36,069
no more deliveries, inductions,
abortions or sterilizations.
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00:20:36,152 --> 00:20:39,572
I exclusively treat patients
with infertility.
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00:20:39,656 --> 00:20:40,657
Look!
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00:20:44,452 --> 00:20:49,290
On the wall, there was
a long list of infertility disorders.
226
00:20:49,374 --> 00:20:52,043
Next to it were flags
people sent to thank her
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00:20:52,126 --> 00:20:54,879
for helping them have babies.
228
00:21:00,635 --> 00:21:03,972
When these two flags arrived,
I wasn't home.
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00:21:04,055 --> 00:21:05,264
My granddaughter received them.
230
00:21:09,018 --> 00:21:12,814
Look at this. It's from Fujian Province.
231
00:21:12,897 --> 00:21:17,402
They were referred to me
by someone I treated.
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00:21:18,987 --> 00:21:21,864
Is this bright enough for your camera?
233
00:21:23,658 --> 00:21:26,953
I'll turn on all the lights.
I'm very glad you're here.
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00:21:33,584 --> 00:21:38,381
Why did you decide to treat infertility?
235
00:21:38,464 --> 00:21:41,509
I want to atone for my sins,
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00:21:41,592 --> 00:21:44,095
for all the abortions and killings I did.
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00:21:56,649 --> 00:22:00,111
What goes around, comes around.
238
00:22:00,194 --> 00:22:03,031
There'll be retribution for me.
239
00:22:03,114 --> 00:22:07,118
Most of my coworkers
have already passed away.
240
00:22:08,369 --> 00:22:10,788
I've dedicated myself to charity.
241
00:22:10,872 --> 00:22:15,918
I am always the first to donate money
242
00:22:16,753 --> 00:22:21,549
for building temples,
bridges or monuments.
243
00:22:22,884 --> 00:22:25,386
I've done so many bad things in the past.
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00:22:25,803 --> 00:22:29,474
While some might say that these
were not bad things because it was my job,
245
00:22:29,557 --> 00:22:31,392
I was the one who killed.
246
00:22:31,476 --> 00:22:33,436
I was the executioner.
247
00:22:33,519 --> 00:22:36,230
I killed those babies, didn't I?
248
00:22:36,314 --> 00:22:40,401
The state gave the order,
but I carried it out.
249
00:22:47,450 --> 00:22:51,120
A 108-year-old monk once told me,
250
00:22:51,204 --> 00:22:56,834
"If you treat the infertile
for as little money as possible,
251
00:22:56,918 --> 00:23:01,380
then each new baby you bring to life
could reverse a hundred you killed."
252
00:23:01,464 --> 00:23:05,343
His words stayed in my heart, so I
became determined to make this change.
253
00:23:17,188 --> 00:23:21,484
My village is one
of many thousands across the country,
254
00:23:21,567 --> 00:23:25,404
and every village had midwives
and family planning workers.
255
00:23:26,864 --> 00:23:30,701
Each year, the government
would punish or reward them
256
00:23:30,785 --> 00:23:33,538
depending on how many babies
were born in their territory.
257
00:23:54,142 --> 00:24:01,149
Today we'll hear speeches
from excellent family planning officials.
258
00:24:01,232 --> 00:24:03,860
They're creators of familial bliss
259
00:24:03,943 --> 00:24:06,237
and the most admirable people
in this new era.
260
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,448
Let's welcome them
with the warmest applause!
261
00:24:11,826 --> 00:24:18,249
For 30 years
Jiang has loyally performed her duty
262
00:24:18,332 --> 00:24:21,961
and earned love and respect
from her fellow citizens.
263
00:24:22,044 --> 00:24:24,005
She has been elected many times
264
00:24:24,088 --> 00:24:28,217
as the People's Representative
of the National Congress.
265
00:24:28,301 --> 00:24:32,889
She also has won numerous awards,
including National Outstanding Worker!
266
00:24:32,972 --> 00:24:35,766
Let us express our gratitude for her
with warm applause.
267
00:24:48,321 --> 00:24:50,907
This is
the National Distinguished Worker award.
268
00:24:50,990 --> 00:24:53,451
The Excellent Labor Award.
269
00:24:54,285 --> 00:24:56,454
Model Worker Certificate
from the 16th National People's Congress.
270
00:24:56,537 --> 00:24:58,247
The National Model Worker Award.
271
00:24:58,331 --> 00:25:00,541
The Most Admirable Person
of the New Era Award.
272
00:25:00,625 --> 00:25:03,127
The National Outstanding Worker
for Children's Affairs.
273
00:25:03,753 --> 00:25:05,880
This photo is...
274
00:25:08,216 --> 00:25:11,761
when I was received
by our national leaders.
275
00:25:11,844 --> 00:25:14,180
Here is President Jiang Zemin,
276
00:25:14,263 --> 00:25:19,644
President Hu Jintao,
and many other national leaders.
277
00:25:19,727 --> 00:25:22,021
And here I am,
the one wearing a red flower.
278
00:25:22,855 --> 00:25:25,441
She was standing right behind Wen Jiabao,
279
00:25:25,524 --> 00:25:28,444
the country's premier at the time.
280
00:25:28,527 --> 00:25:30,905
Received like a national hero,
281
00:25:30,988 --> 00:25:35,159
Jiang's story was told
again and again by the state TV.
282
00:25:36,118 --> 00:25:40,748
[man narrating]
The One-Child Policy was essential.
283
00:25:40,831 --> 00:25:43,918
Since its implementation
in the early 1970s,
284
00:25:44,001 --> 00:25:47,255
our country has prevented
338 million births
285
00:25:47,338 --> 00:25:51,717
and saved $130 million worth of resources.
286
00:25:51,801 --> 00:25:56,847
Our family planning officials
made this possible.
287
00:25:57,807 --> 00:26:04,647
Jiang is an excellent model among them.
288
00:26:09,527 --> 00:26:12,613
If I could go back in time,
289
00:26:12,697 --> 00:26:16,659
I would do this work again.
290
00:26:17,660 --> 00:26:24,667
Looking back,
the policy was absolutely correct.
291
00:26:24,750 --> 00:26:27,586
Our leaders were prophetic.
292
00:26:27,670 --> 00:26:33,467
If not for this policy,
our country would have perished.
293
00:26:37,013 --> 00:26:40,683
I was only 19 when I started
working in family planning.
294
00:26:41,726 --> 00:26:48,024
I initially thought that forcing abortions
was an atrocity.
295
00:26:50,484 --> 00:26:56,741
I wanted to quit several times.
296
00:26:56,824 --> 00:26:59,827
But the leader said to me,
297
00:26:59,910 --> 00:27:03,164
"It is a national policy, and as
298
00:27:03,247 --> 00:27:07,835
a party member,
the more challenging the job,
299
00:27:07,918 --> 00:27:11,839
the more determined you should be
to take it on."
300
00:27:14,884 --> 00:27:20,639
Many of the fetuses aborted
were eight or nine months along.
301
00:27:21,140 --> 00:27:25,394
When they were aborted,
they were still alive.
302
00:27:27,355 --> 00:27:31,317
Sometimes pregnant women tried to
run away. We had to chase after them.
303
00:27:33,986 --> 00:27:38,157
One time a pregnant woman
was so distraught,
304
00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:43,287
she took off all her clothes
and ran away naked.
305
00:27:43,371 --> 00:27:48,125
Unable to catch her, we turned
to the Party Secretary and asked...
306
00:27:49,168 --> 00:27:51,629
"Where should we grab her?
There's nothing to grab onto!"
307
00:27:52,546 --> 00:27:55,257
That's how things were.
308
00:27:55,341 --> 00:28:02,139
During abortions, women would cry,
curse, fight, go insane.
309
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:04,767
Those memories...
310
00:28:05,810 --> 00:28:10,523
I had to put the national interest
above my personal feelings.
311
00:28:10,606 --> 00:28:14,610
It was like fighting a war.
Death is inevitable.
312
00:28:16,112 --> 00:28:18,114
It really was like that.
313
00:28:20,199 --> 00:28:24,495
We were fighting a population war.
314
00:28:33,504 --> 00:28:35,423
"We are fighting a population war"
315
00:28:35,506 --> 00:28:38,551
was a common slogan
used by the government
316
00:28:38,634 --> 00:28:40,636
during the One-Child Policy.
317
00:28:41,679 --> 00:28:45,349
China started a war
against population growth,
318
00:28:45,433 --> 00:28:49,395
but it became a real war
against its own people.
319
00:29:05,828 --> 00:29:09,039
I did a project called Motive.
320
00:29:09,123 --> 00:29:14,962
I painted fetuses on the book
The Thoughts of Chairman Mao.
321
00:29:15,045 --> 00:29:19,008
One fetus for each page
322
00:29:19,091 --> 00:29:21,594
on 366 pages,
suggesting this happens every day.
323
00:29:27,475 --> 00:29:31,228
As a human being,
it takes guts to kill a person.
324
00:29:32,271 --> 00:29:34,523
Especially for young nurses.
325
00:29:34,607 --> 00:29:37,193
How could they bring themselves to kill?
326
00:29:37,276 --> 00:29:40,237
What made them do this?
327
00:29:40,321 --> 00:29:43,199
It all comes
from long-term indoctrination.
328
00:29:43,282 --> 00:29:45,993
What indoctrination specifically?
329
00:29:46,076 --> 00:29:50,080
For example,
"Collective interests above all else,"
330
00:29:50,164 --> 00:29:51,790
"Individuals submit to the collective,"
331
00:29:52,416 --> 00:29:56,378
as well as, "The party is infallible."
332
00:29:57,463 --> 00:30:03,761
This indoctrination destroys a person's
humanity, individuality and conscience.
333
00:30:03,844 --> 00:30:06,305
If this is the Party's order,
it must be the right thing to do.
334
00:30:06,388 --> 00:30:09,433
Most people never questioned this.
335
00:30:09,517 --> 00:30:13,521
What prompted you to question them?
336
00:30:15,731 --> 00:30:17,525
Actually, I...
337
00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:23,113
I began truly exploring
the One-Child Policy as a theme in 1996.
338
00:30:25,866 --> 00:30:29,995
At the time,
trash was the theme of my paintings.
339
00:30:30,079 --> 00:30:32,831
This place is under a bridge.
340
00:30:32,915 --> 00:30:37,962
There was all kinds of trash there,
including
341
00:30:38,045 --> 00:30:43,092
plastic, wooden debris and consumer waste.
342
00:30:43,175 --> 00:30:46,637
This area in particular
343
00:30:47,137 --> 00:30:50,391
had many discarded mannequins.
344
00:30:50,474 --> 00:30:56,188
I was very moved by what I saw
and wanted to capture it in my work.
345
00:30:56,272 --> 00:31:02,903
As I was scouting the location,
346
00:31:02,987 --> 00:31:08,576
I found in the trash heap a...
347
00:31:11,078 --> 00:31:13,747
a discarded fetus.
348
00:31:19,086 --> 00:31:23,173
It was wrapped on the outside
by a black plastic bag,
349
00:31:23,257 --> 00:31:29,597
and then inside by a yellow plastic bag
that had "medical waste" printed on it.
350
00:31:31,098 --> 00:31:34,727
From then on,
I wanted to better understand
351
00:31:34,810 --> 00:31:37,396
the current situation
of the One-Child Policy.
352
00:31:57,958 --> 00:32:02,463
I wanted to gather these fetuses
and preserve them
353
00:32:02,546 --> 00:32:05,883
so that people could see
the scale of this phenomenon,
354
00:32:05,966 --> 00:32:12,890
the fragility of life
and the respect every life deserves.
355
00:32:14,308 --> 00:32:17,519
I wanted people to think:
356
00:32:17,895 --> 00:32:19,688
how can we do this...
357
00:32:20,731 --> 00:32:22,524
and why?
358
00:32:24,234 --> 00:32:26,695
The most tragic thing for a nation
is to have no memory.
359
00:32:26,779 --> 00:32:29,573
When the One-Child Policy is over
360
00:32:29,657 --> 00:32:31,325
and people can have
all the children they want,
361
00:32:31,408 --> 00:32:33,827
the memory of the One-Child Policy
will be lost.
362
00:32:56,934 --> 00:33:01,146
Because I've been watching my own child
grow up since he was born,
363
00:33:01,230 --> 00:33:06,360
I distinctly remember just how cute he was
when he was asleep.
364
00:33:16,245 --> 00:33:20,541
When I saw this fetus, I felt as though
I was looking at my own son.
365
00:33:24,503 --> 00:33:28,132
His skin was pinkish,
366
00:33:28,215 --> 00:33:30,759
though he hadn't been cleaned after birth.
367
00:33:30,843 --> 00:33:35,764
He was a beautiful baby.
368
00:33:37,516 --> 00:33:40,144
But he was dead.
A smile was still on his face.
369
00:33:43,105 --> 00:33:44,481
I was wondering,
370
00:33:44,565 --> 00:33:51,321
"Why would he smile
after being aborted and killed?"
371
00:33:53,365 --> 00:33:57,661
It's as if he knew it'd be miserable
to be alive in China,
372
00:33:57,745 --> 00:34:02,374
and he was happy
373
00:34:02,458 --> 00:34:06,295
to have avoided it.
374
00:34:15,262 --> 00:34:18,265
You still think the One-Child Policy
is good, right?
375
00:34:18,348 --> 00:34:23,145
Yes. If it weren't for the One-Child
Policy, there'd be cannibalism in China.
376
00:34:24,897 --> 00:34:27,149
-It would be that serious?
-Absolutely.
377
00:34:27,232 --> 00:34:33,614
If you have an apple, one child can have
it all, but four kids would have to share.
378
00:34:33,697 --> 00:34:36,492
Come on. How much can a child eat?
379
00:34:36,575 --> 00:34:40,245
Besides, they will soon grow up
and be able to contribute.
380
00:34:40,329 --> 00:34:42,331
People used to starve to death.
381
00:34:42,414 --> 00:34:46,752
Do you realize how difficult life was
for your dad's generation?
382
00:34:46,835 --> 00:34:53,550
Nothing to eat except rice husks,
which caused chronic constipation.
383
00:34:54,134 --> 00:34:56,512
But they still survived.
384
00:34:56,595 --> 00:35:00,432
They survived, but living conditions
were extremely harsh.
385
00:35:01,558 --> 00:35:03,268
What about Grandpa's generation?
386
00:35:03,352 --> 00:35:05,145
Even harsher.
387
00:35:21,829 --> 00:35:25,457
How many children do I have?
388
00:35:27,167 --> 00:35:28,585
Your eldest aunt...
389
00:35:29,711 --> 00:35:31,797
your dad,
390
00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:34,258
your uncle,
391
00:35:34,341 --> 00:35:36,969
another son named Guoguo.
392
00:35:37,052 --> 00:35:38,053
Guoguo.
393
00:35:39,346 --> 00:35:42,224
And another daughter named Lanlan.
394
00:35:43,016 --> 00:35:46,770
Lanlan died in your grandma's arms.
395
00:35:51,900 --> 00:35:55,904
Back then many village children
had smallpox...
396
00:35:56,989 --> 00:36:00,784
but that wasn't
what she was suffering from.
397
00:36:01,618 --> 00:36:04,538
The doctor thought it was smallpox
and gave her a shot at noon.
398
00:36:04,621 --> 00:36:07,541
By the afternoon, she had died.
399
00:36:10,961 --> 00:36:12,212
Guoguo died of...
400
00:36:14,798 --> 00:36:18,010
It had something to do with his brain.
401
00:36:18,093 --> 00:36:20,929
-Meningitis?
-That's it. Meningitis.
402
00:36:24,850 --> 00:36:27,394
My grandpa is 83.
403
00:36:27,477 --> 00:36:31,481
He lived through wars,
famines and revolutions.
404
00:36:32,774 --> 00:36:35,903
My own parents weren't much better off.
405
00:36:35,986 --> 00:36:40,073
My father died of a brain hemorrhage
when he was 33.
406
00:36:41,366 --> 00:36:45,996
And his short life was more about survival
than finding fulfillment.
407
00:36:54,338 --> 00:36:59,676
None of my family questioned the policy
or how it was implemented.
408
00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:03,639
The government used music and TV
to show people a better life
409
00:37:03,722 --> 00:37:05,933
that they could imagine themselves living,
410
00:37:06,016 --> 00:37:08,435
as long as they followed the rules.
411
00:37:17,402 --> 00:37:20,572
Even in the hardest times
412
00:37:20,656 --> 00:37:24,743
You stare down challenges
With the utmost sincerity
413
00:37:25,619 --> 00:37:29,122
Press on and have faith
414
00:37:29,206 --> 00:37:33,669
Tomorrow will surely be a much better day
415
00:37:42,594 --> 00:37:48,392
You shouldn't be so critical
of the One-Child Policy.
416
00:37:50,394 --> 00:37:55,107
While it's cruel
to demolish people's homes,
417
00:37:55,190 --> 00:38:01,363
it's a necessary measure
to enforce the policy
418
00:38:01,446 --> 00:38:04,825
since everyone wants more children.
419
00:38:08,829 --> 00:38:11,957
I wish I could say something to my mom.
420
00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:14,918
Like most people in China,
she believes the policy
421
00:38:15,002 --> 00:38:17,462
was necessary for China's survival.
422
00:38:18,964 --> 00:38:21,091
But I wondered if people like her
423
00:38:21,174 --> 00:38:25,679
really thought it was worth
the sacrifices each family made.
424
00:38:27,764 --> 00:38:29,516
When I was born...
425
00:38:30,767 --> 00:38:35,230
If I were born a girl, I would have been
put into a basket and sent away.
426
00:38:36,523 --> 00:38:40,318
If I were a girl,
I would have been discarded.
427
00:38:46,867 --> 00:38:49,703
Our father died young.
428
00:38:51,913 --> 00:38:56,793
You were in middle school
and I was in elementary school.
429
00:38:56,877 --> 00:39:01,298
Since Mom couldn't afford
to put us both in school,
430
00:39:01,381 --> 00:39:04,801
she decided that you
should start working right away.
431
00:39:06,094 --> 00:39:11,224
You could help the family financially,
432
00:39:11,308 --> 00:39:16,188
but you could also
support me individually.
433
00:39:21,485 --> 00:39:23,570
When I learned about this...
434
00:39:27,491 --> 00:39:29,534
I felt incredibly sad...
435
00:39:31,453 --> 00:39:33,580
but it was completely
outside of my control.
436
00:39:43,298 --> 00:39:48,470
Grandpa, does my son
mean the same to you as my brother's son?
437
00:39:48,553 --> 00:39:51,765
Of course not.
438
00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:55,560
What does your son call me?
439
00:39:55,644 --> 00:39:57,020
Won't it be "great-grandpa?"
440
00:39:57,104 --> 00:39:58,480
No, extended great-grandpa.
441
00:40:00,065 --> 00:40:01,483
It's extended.
442
00:40:01,566 --> 00:40:03,318
We're separated.
443
00:40:03,401 --> 00:40:08,281
Your brother's son calls me
immediate great-grandpa.
444
00:40:08,365 --> 00:40:11,284
He's within the family,
but you're outside of the family.
445
00:40:11,368 --> 00:40:13,245
Why's there a difference?
446
00:40:17,707 --> 00:40:21,211
You and your brother are siblings.
447
00:40:21,294 --> 00:40:23,004
Right. Aren't we the same?
448
00:40:23,088 --> 00:40:28,051
But you married into
someone else's family.
449
00:40:30,262 --> 00:40:36,101
We all want a grandson, for sure.
450
00:40:37,894 --> 00:40:39,271
How come?
451
00:40:40,355 --> 00:40:43,358
To carry on our family name!
452
00:40:43,441 --> 00:40:50,073
Without male offspring,
the family would go extinct.
453
00:40:50,157 --> 00:40:52,159
What about daughters?
454
00:40:53,535 --> 00:40:57,914
Daughters marry off
and permanently join other families.
455
00:40:57,998 --> 00:41:00,125
Coming back here, I realized
456
00:41:00,208 --> 00:41:03,461
that I don't even have
a photo of my grandpa and me,
457
00:41:03,545 --> 00:41:07,716
as he only ever took photos
with his two grandsons.
458
00:41:09,134 --> 00:41:11,219
One thing I find especially absurd...
459
00:41:12,053 --> 00:41:17,392
Mothers and grandmothers
favor their male offspring too,
460
00:41:17,475 --> 00:41:21,146
even though they themselves are female.
461
00:41:21,229 --> 00:41:27,986
For instance, Grandma would
save snacks for me, but not for you.
462
00:41:28,069 --> 00:41:32,115
Mom chose me over you
to continue schooling.
463
00:41:38,413 --> 00:41:42,250
When my mom was born,
her parents named her Zaodi,
464
00:41:42,334 --> 00:41:44,586
which means
"bring me a younger brother soon."
465
00:41:48,965 --> 00:41:53,595
She later helped her younger brother
abandon his daughter in the market
466
00:41:53,678 --> 00:41:56,139
so he could try again for a son.
467
00:41:59,809 --> 00:42:04,856
We couldn't discard the baby
468
00:42:04,940 --> 00:42:07,359
in broad daylight,
469
00:42:07,442 --> 00:42:09,444
so we carried her in a basket,
470
00:42:09,527 --> 00:42:14,824
climbed over mountains
when it was still dark out.
471
00:42:15,450 --> 00:42:18,954
We put $20 in her clothes
472
00:42:19,037 --> 00:42:23,208
and left her on the meat counter
in the market.
473
00:42:23,917 --> 00:42:27,879
For two days and two nights,
she was there.
474
00:42:27,963 --> 00:42:32,259
No one wanted her.
Her face was full of mosquito bites.
475
00:42:32,342 --> 00:42:35,595
-She eventually died.
-Really?
476
00:42:35,679 --> 00:42:40,100
Then we buried her.
477
00:42:50,026 --> 00:42:52,821
My mom said
that you cried for a long time.
478
00:42:52,904 --> 00:42:55,407
Of course I did.
479
00:42:55,490 --> 00:42:59,202
Who wouldn't?
I cried nonstop when I gave her away.
480
00:43:01,871 --> 00:43:04,082
After becoming a mom myself,
481
00:43:04,165 --> 00:43:06,710
I can't even bear to listen to my child
cry for more than three minutes.
482
00:43:06,793 --> 00:43:09,462
How did you deal with that?
483
00:43:09,546 --> 00:43:11,673
My mom threatened to kill herself
and said,
484
00:43:11,756 --> 00:43:14,676
"If you keep this baby girl,
I will either kill myself
485
00:43:14,759 --> 00:43:17,595
or I will strangle her to death
before killing myself."
486
00:43:18,972 --> 00:43:21,975
I thought I could save her life
by giving her away.
487
00:43:22,058 --> 00:43:24,269
But she ended up dead.
488
00:43:24,811 --> 00:43:31,359
If she hadn't died,
she would be 27 or 28 now.
489
00:43:35,030 --> 00:43:37,240
I wish I could say that my uncle
490
00:43:37,324 --> 00:43:41,286
was the only one in our family
who felt he had to abandon a child.
491
00:43:47,417 --> 00:43:52,630
My two sisters-in-law helped me
pass her along to a human trafficker.
492
00:43:52,714 --> 00:43:55,425
-Was the trafficker someone you knew?
-Yes.
493
00:43:55,508 --> 00:43:58,428
Was the trafficker
doing this professionally?
494
00:43:58,511 --> 00:44:00,805
-Yes. She's a relative of my husband.
-Related how?
495
00:44:00,889 --> 00:44:03,266
She's my husband's cousin.
496
00:44:03,350 --> 00:44:05,393
Had she done this for many years?
497
00:44:05,477 --> 00:44:09,814
Yes, and I heard that
she'd make $45 per baby.
498
00:44:09,898 --> 00:44:12,859
Did she pay you?
499
00:44:12,942 --> 00:44:14,986
No. No one wanted girls.
500
00:44:15,111 --> 00:44:17,989
Many infant girls were left at the market
and died of sun exposure.
501
00:44:18,073 --> 00:44:18,990
Really?
502
00:44:19,074 --> 00:44:23,411
Maggots were all over their dead bodies.
503
00:44:23,495 --> 00:44:30,210
Your grandma told me that
there was no taker in the market.
504
00:44:30,293 --> 00:44:35,215
How could I leave her there
to die like other babies?
505
00:44:35,632 --> 00:44:39,928
At the time, I wasn't even
thinking about her future.
506
00:44:40,011 --> 00:44:43,098
I just wanted her to live.
507
00:44:48,269 --> 00:44:50,480
The large number of abandoned babies
508
00:44:50,563 --> 00:44:55,193
created opportunities
for human traffickers all over China.
509
00:44:55,276 --> 00:44:57,737
In my village,
we called them matchmakers
510
00:44:57,821 --> 00:45:02,075
because they took unwanted babies
and found homes for them.
511
00:45:02,951 --> 00:45:06,496
Talking with my aunt about matchmakers
triggered a memory I had
512
00:45:06,579 --> 00:45:09,916
of a national news story
from a decade ago,
513
00:45:09,999 --> 00:45:14,379
where an entire family was convicted
of selling babies to orphanages.
514
00:45:15,922 --> 00:45:21,261
At the time, it seemed cruel and evil
that someone could sell babies like that.
515
00:45:21,344 --> 00:45:26,057
But now I wondered if the government's
version of their crime was true at all.
516
00:45:32,981 --> 00:45:37,068
I tracked down the ex-trafficker
Yueneng Duan in Shenzhen.
517
00:45:37,152 --> 00:45:41,531
Duan spent four years in prison
but now works as a security guard.
518
00:45:43,116 --> 00:45:45,994
The day I was there,
he was on his break,
519
00:45:46,077 --> 00:45:50,248
scavenging furniture from a company
that was going out of business.
520
00:46:15,857 --> 00:46:17,859
Such a comfy chair!
521
00:46:19,444 --> 00:46:24,949
Were you and your family
the biggest traffickers in the country?
522
00:46:25,033 --> 00:46:27,952
I can't say that we were the biggest,
523
00:46:28,036 --> 00:46:32,957
but we most likely
were in operation the longest.
524
00:46:34,375 --> 00:46:39,422
How many babies
have you sent to the orphanages?
525
00:46:39,506 --> 00:46:43,676
If I do the math,
526
00:46:43,760 --> 00:46:46,888
I'd say around 10,000.
527
00:46:46,971 --> 00:46:48,723
Ten thousand babies?
528
00:46:48,806 --> 00:46:50,975
That's right. Not just one or two
or a couple of thousand.
529
00:46:51,059 --> 00:46:53,937
-Ten thousand?
-Yes, 10,000.
530
00:46:56,356 --> 00:46:59,108
The number 10,000 sounded high to me,
531
00:46:59,192 --> 00:47:01,903
but I had no way to verify it.
532
00:47:01,986 --> 00:47:05,365
I asked him to show me
exactly how he did it.
533
00:47:11,871 --> 00:47:14,082
He used to take a train
almost every day
534
00:47:14,165 --> 00:47:17,377
between Guangdong Province,
where he would find babies,
535
00:47:17,460 --> 00:47:19,003
and Hunan Province,
536
00:47:19,087 --> 00:47:22,257
where he would sell the babies
to the orphanages.
537
00:47:35,019 --> 00:47:40,817
I used to walk on this road day and night
538
00:47:40,900 --> 00:47:43,152
to see if there were any abandoned babies.
539
00:47:46,239 --> 00:47:51,619
If so, I would bring them
to the orphanages.
540
00:47:52,370 --> 00:47:56,332
The orphanages would pay me $200
for each baby I brought in.
541
00:47:56,416 --> 00:48:00,086
They then put them up
for international adoption.
542
00:48:00,169 --> 00:48:02,964
Using the overseas adoption money, they'd
pay for more babies from traffickers,
543
00:48:03,047 --> 00:48:05,049
perpetuating this cycle of transactions.
544
00:48:08,303 --> 00:48:11,556
Were the babies you trafficked
all from Guangdong and Hunan?
545
00:48:11,639 --> 00:48:12,557
Yes.
546
00:48:12,640 --> 00:48:14,350
You could find so many abandoned babies
just in these two provinces?
547
00:48:14,434 --> 00:48:15,935
Yes.
548
00:48:18,021 --> 00:48:24,235
I remember when I was around 17 or 18,
I'd bike around town...
549
00:48:24,319 --> 00:48:25,320
Morning!
550
00:48:26,529 --> 00:48:30,283
I'd see four or five abandoned babies
along the way.
551
00:48:32,243 --> 00:48:34,162
You started trafficking babies
at that age?
552
00:48:34,245 --> 00:48:36,956
No, I just watched them die.
553
00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:40,043
At that time,
I didn't know where I could bring them.
554
00:48:47,008 --> 00:48:52,972
I only started bringing abandoned babies
to the orphanages around 1992-1993.
555
00:48:54,515 --> 00:48:57,518
1992 was the year that China began
556
00:48:57,602 --> 00:48:59,896
its international adoption program,
557
00:48:59,979 --> 00:49:03,399
allowing foreigners
to adopt Chinese orphans.
558
00:49:05,610 --> 00:49:11,074
The demand from orphanages grew so fast
that Duan's family had to find help.
559
00:49:11,949 --> 00:49:17,497
Our helpers included trash collectors,
560
00:49:18,164 --> 00:49:20,875
gas cylinder delivery drivers,
561
00:49:20,958 --> 00:49:23,795
motorcycle taxi drivers
and bus drivers.
562
00:49:23,878 --> 00:49:30,218
Their jobs required them
to roam around town.
563
00:49:30,968 --> 00:49:37,058
They'd pick up abandoned babies
whenever they saw them.
564
00:49:41,187 --> 00:49:43,981
These people all came
from the bottom of society.
565
00:49:44,065 --> 00:49:48,152
They felt very sorry for these babies
and wanted to help.
566
00:49:53,825 --> 00:49:58,538
In the beginning,
we didn't do it for the money.
567
00:49:58,621 --> 00:50:04,877
We just wanted to rescue those babies
568
00:50:04,961 --> 00:50:09,549
and help them find food and shelter.
569
00:50:15,304 --> 00:50:18,307
We thought orphanages were charities.
570
00:50:21,102 --> 00:50:25,231
[Yueneng]
I brought babies to state-run orphanages.
571
00:50:25,314 --> 00:50:28,860
They paid me.
572
00:50:28,943 --> 00:50:32,989
Shouldn't they be prosecuted first?
573
00:50:44,751 --> 00:50:48,588
This is our verdict.
574
00:50:48,671 --> 00:50:50,882
My youngest sister got 10 years.
575
00:50:50,965 --> 00:50:54,343
My eldest sister got 15 years,
and I got six.
576
00:50:54,427 --> 00:50:56,846
There was a trash collector
who got five years
577
00:50:56,929 --> 00:51:02,185
for picking up one baby
and giving it to my sister.
578
00:51:06,981 --> 00:51:11,110
[Meilin] I started my sentence at 32
and came out at 42.
579
00:51:14,113 --> 00:51:16,616
My son was only five when I went in.
580
00:51:18,367 --> 00:51:20,828
I was in prison for so long that
581
00:51:20,912 --> 00:51:24,582
my son and I seem to be living
completely different lives.
582
00:51:24,665 --> 00:51:27,376
We can't find anything in common
to talk about.
583
00:51:33,966 --> 00:51:37,220
[Yueneng] If the One-Child Policy
had never been implemented,
584
00:51:37,303 --> 00:51:40,890
none of this would have happened to us.
585
00:51:40,973 --> 00:51:43,768
This policy not only took the lives
of newborn babies.
586
00:51:43,851 --> 00:51:46,938
It also ruined the lives of many adults.
587
00:51:49,941 --> 00:51:53,402
Do you ever miss your daughter?
588
00:51:53,486 --> 00:51:56,906
Sure I do. It's impossible not to.
589
00:51:57,281 --> 00:51:59,325
I don't know whether she's dead or alive.
590
00:51:59,408 --> 00:52:02,203
The traffickers didn't share
any information with you?
591
00:52:02,286 --> 00:52:06,249
No, they wouldn't do that.
592
00:52:06,999 --> 00:52:12,922
They didn't want the birth families
to track down these babies
593
00:52:13,005 --> 00:52:17,218
and get them back in the future.
594
00:52:17,969 --> 00:52:22,098
It's been 30 years.
How quickly time flies.
595
00:52:22,181 --> 00:52:29,188
Looking back, do you hate the policy?
596
00:52:29,730 --> 00:52:32,316
What's to hate? Policy is policy.
597
00:52:32,400 --> 00:52:33,442
None?
598
00:52:33,526 --> 00:52:35,695
I harbor no hate.
599
00:52:35,778 --> 00:52:38,531
It's my fate.
600
00:52:38,614 --> 00:52:42,493
Your fate for having a daughter?
601
00:52:42,577 --> 00:52:44,620
A fortune-teller once told me
this is my fate.
602
00:52:45,246 --> 00:52:49,250
Until my aunt told me
the story about her abandoned daughter,
603
00:52:49,333 --> 00:52:51,878
I never knew that I had a cousin.
604
00:52:52,879 --> 00:52:54,797
Now I was filled with questions.
605
00:52:55,882 --> 00:52:58,134
Where could she be?
606
00:52:58,217 --> 00:53:01,679
And where are the children
Duan sold to orphanages?
607
00:53:05,641 --> 00:53:10,897
One family in America has been trying
to answer these questions for 18 years.
608
00:53:13,482 --> 00:53:15,484
There are entries
showing that these kids
609
00:53:15,568 --> 00:53:18,988
either came from
the Duan family from Wuchuan
610
00:53:19,071 --> 00:53:22,575
or from, you know, outside,
uh, family planning.
611
00:53:22,658 --> 00:53:24,660
And that's just... it's astounding that,
612
00:53:24,744 --> 00:53:29,123
of the hundreds of kids
at this orphanage adopted internationally,
613
00:53:29,206 --> 00:53:33,753
less then a handful of them actually
seem to have been legitimately found.
614
00:53:33,836 --> 00:53:36,547
-The rest were brought in by people.
-[Lan] I know.
615
00:53:37,214 --> 00:53:39,133
Long Lan and her husband Brian
616
00:53:39,216 --> 00:53:41,010
cofounded Research China,
617
00:53:41,093 --> 00:53:44,305
a paid service that tries
to connect adopted children
618
00:53:44,388 --> 00:53:46,390
with their birth families in China.
619
00:53:46,474 --> 00:53:49,268
Their search started
with their own children.
620
00:53:53,064 --> 00:53:56,901
[Lan]
My husband and I adopted three girls
621
00:53:56,984 --> 00:54:00,947
from orphanages in China.
622
00:54:01,489 --> 00:54:06,035
Why adopting from China was
so popular among international families?
623
00:54:06,118 --> 00:54:09,455
The main thing is that the China program,
from the beginning,
624
00:54:09,538 --> 00:54:11,499
was extremely predictable.
625
00:54:11,582 --> 00:54:14,418
You knew practically down to the penny
626
00:54:14,502 --> 00:54:16,921
how much money you were going
to need to bring to China.
627
00:54:17,004 --> 00:54:19,298
You knew where you were
going to be on every day.
628
00:54:19,382 --> 00:54:21,717
You knew what forms
you were going to sign.
629
00:54:21,801 --> 00:54:25,179
Everything was 100% orchestrated.
630
00:54:25,262 --> 00:54:28,849
How much was the average
total cost to adopt from China?
631
00:54:28,933 --> 00:54:33,437
Generally between, say,
$10,000 at the very least
632
00:54:33,521 --> 00:54:35,940
to $20,000 to $25,000.
633
00:54:38,526 --> 00:54:41,404
So we, uh, did research,
submitted our dossier
634
00:54:41,487 --> 00:54:44,740
and adopted Meikina in 1998, April 4.
635
00:54:46,409 --> 00:54:50,997
[Brian] And it was, in every sense
of the word, a life-changing experience.
636
00:54:51,080 --> 00:54:54,583
And we said,
"Boy, we need to go on that ride again."
637
00:54:59,630 --> 00:55:02,091
Now look at the camera.
Two, three, one.
638
00:55:02,174 --> 00:55:04,552
-Come on.
-Here. One, two...
639
00:55:04,635 --> 00:55:07,388
My eldest daughter has been
wanting to find her birth parents
640
00:55:07,471 --> 00:55:09,140
since she was very young.
641
00:55:09,932 --> 00:55:12,393
One day, she ran to me and asked,
642
00:55:12,476 --> 00:55:16,480
"Why didn't my birth family want me?
Why? Why? Why?"
643
00:55:16,564 --> 00:55:21,027
Then she ran back in her room
and hid under her bed.
644
00:55:21,986 --> 00:55:25,448
When I went to her, she started to cry.
645
00:55:25,531 --> 00:55:30,661
Oh, my God.
I really didn't know how to answer her.
646
00:55:32,705 --> 00:55:34,707
For most of Meikina's life,
647
00:55:34,790 --> 00:55:37,793
they thought they knew exactly
how she came to them.
648
00:55:39,045 --> 00:55:43,758
[Brian] I'd actually started
researching in China in about 2000,
649
00:55:43,841 --> 00:55:46,302
and interviewed this finder.
650
00:55:47,178 --> 00:55:52,475
One thing that we wanted to know is
what time of day she found Meikina.
651
00:55:53,059 --> 00:55:56,437
And the detail in the experience
that she painted for me
652
00:55:56,520 --> 00:55:59,190
struck me as completely legitimate.
653
00:55:59,273 --> 00:56:02,276
Morning, about 8:00 a.m.
654
00:56:02,359 --> 00:56:07,573
How was she doing?
She was found wrapped up or in a box?
655
00:56:08,866 --> 00:56:11,452
-She was in a paper cage.
-In a what?
656
00:56:12,745 --> 00:56:15,206
-Paper cage.
-A cardboard box?
657
00:56:15,289 --> 00:56:16,665
Yeah.
658
00:56:17,124 --> 00:56:23,047
For ten years, I was convinced
that that story was accurate.
659
00:56:23,130 --> 00:56:26,008
Um, and then finally Lan said,
you know,
660
00:56:26,092 --> 00:56:27,676
"Maybe we should go back
661
00:56:27,760 --> 00:56:31,055
and I should meet this finder
and talk to her myself."
662
00:56:31,138 --> 00:56:33,557
So she went back,
found the woman I had interviewed,
663
00:56:33,641 --> 00:56:36,811
and the woman, like, kind of got
a little bit nervous, and she said,
664
00:56:36,894 --> 00:56:38,896
"Have you spoken to the orphanage?
665
00:56:38,979 --> 00:56:42,316
I actually had nothing to do
with your daughter's finding.
666
00:56:42,399 --> 00:56:45,653
Our names were just
put on the paperwork for the adoption.
667
00:56:45,736 --> 00:56:47,696
We didn't find your daughter."
668
00:56:48,989 --> 00:56:51,992
Now, when Lan called me
and told me that, I was like,
669
00:56:52,618 --> 00:56:55,955
"Wow. That is amazing."
670
00:56:56,038 --> 00:56:58,707
Because now I recognized
that the orphanage
671
00:56:58,791 --> 00:57:02,336
had prepped the finder before
I had even gotten there in 2000 and said,
672
00:57:02,419 --> 00:57:06,841
"Give him a good story. Make something up.
Just make him feel good."
673
00:57:06,924 --> 00:57:09,635
And that's what happens
in the majority of cases
674
00:57:09,718 --> 00:57:12,096
when Western families go to China,
675
00:57:12,179 --> 00:57:16,392
and they give this same story
over and over and over again.
676
00:57:18,644 --> 00:57:23,065
It must have been
towards the end of 2005 that
677
00:57:23,149 --> 00:57:27,528
I read the news about the Duan family
trafficking babies
678
00:57:27,611 --> 00:57:30,823
and noticed some discrepancies.
679
00:57:30,906 --> 00:57:33,993
It made me curious and...
680
00:57:35,035 --> 00:57:39,165
I wanted to contact Duan
and find out how they operated.
681
00:57:42,042 --> 00:57:44,086
How come I can't find that one?
682
00:57:45,921 --> 00:57:52,845
I first met Duan in 2010,
after he had been released from jail.
683
00:57:54,555 --> 00:57:56,473
Talking with Long Lan,
684
00:57:56,557 --> 00:58:00,519
I realized I was following the path
she had already discovered.
685
00:58:00,978 --> 00:58:04,398
These were all from the US, Canada, Spain.
686
00:58:04,523 --> 00:58:06,692
These are all the children's names?
687
00:58:07,943 --> 00:58:09,486
Yes, so many of them.
688
00:58:09,570 --> 00:58:13,574
So when they say the babies were found
in front of the orphanages, is that true?
689
00:58:13,657 --> 00:58:14,575
No.
690
00:58:14,658 --> 00:58:17,203
She had reached out
to Duan and his family
691
00:58:17,286 --> 00:58:19,246
many years before I did.
692
00:58:19,330 --> 00:58:23,000
She has a copy of all the records
from Duan's trial.
693
00:58:23,083 --> 00:58:25,419
She also interviewed Duan's mom,
694
00:58:25,502 --> 00:58:27,755
who passed away several years ago.
695
00:58:27,838 --> 00:58:32,718
She was the first person in the family
who sold babies to orphanages.
696
00:58:33,093 --> 00:58:39,308
When you brought a baby
to the orphanage for the first time,
697
00:58:39,391 --> 00:58:41,477
what did the director say to you?
698
00:58:41,560 --> 00:58:44,688
-He said--
-How much money did he pay you?
699
00:58:48,484 --> 00:58:52,655
He said, since I had
taken care of her for a while,
700
00:58:52,738 --> 00:58:56,242
he'd give me $115.
701
00:58:58,619 --> 00:59:01,956
You took care of that child
until she was two?
702
00:59:02,039 --> 00:59:05,292
She was old enough to feed herself,
703
00:59:05,376 --> 00:59:08,837
but I just couldn't
take care of her anymore.
704
00:59:10,214 --> 00:59:13,634
Was it difficult to give her away?
705
00:59:13,717 --> 00:59:15,803
It was tough.
706
00:59:15,886 --> 00:59:19,265
I was inconsolable.
Cried and cried at the orphanage.
707
00:59:19,348 --> 00:59:22,685
The director of the orphanage asked me,
"Is she your granddaughter?"
708
00:59:22,768 --> 00:59:25,813
I said, "No, I found her."
709
00:59:25,896 --> 00:59:30,359
"You found her?
Her own family abandoned her.
710
00:59:30,442 --> 00:59:32,945
Why the fuck are you crying?"
711
00:59:33,028 --> 00:59:39,910
He scolded me and said,
"Stop crying. She is better off here.
712
00:59:39,994 --> 00:59:45,499
Her life will be better than yours.
713
00:59:45,582 --> 00:59:51,380
If you find more abandoned babies,
make sure to bring them here."
714
00:59:51,463 --> 00:59:53,966
And so the orphanage will hire--
715
00:59:54,049 --> 00:59:58,846
not officially hire, but will create
a... a recruiting network
716
00:59:58,929 --> 01:00:03,392
of doctors, midwives,
foster families, whatever.
717
01:00:03,934 --> 01:00:06,812
You know? Anybody, um, that can--
718
01:00:06,895 --> 01:00:10,441
can locate and bring children
into the orphanage.
719
01:00:10,524 --> 01:00:12,109
When those children
come into the orphanage,
720
01:00:12,192 --> 01:00:13,819
then, of course, they need to--
721
01:00:13,902 --> 01:00:16,322
The orphanage then needs
to fabricate their information,
722
01:00:16,405 --> 01:00:20,451
say, "Oh, yeah, let's pick
the third middle school today."
723
01:00:20,534 --> 01:00:23,037
You know,
and they'll tell the adopted family,
724
01:00:23,120 --> 01:00:24,913
"Your child was found
at the third middle school."
725
01:00:24,997 --> 01:00:28,500
Um, when, in fact, they were
never actually found at all.
726
01:00:28,584 --> 01:00:31,670
So, what the orphanages will do
is they'll make an agreement
727
01:00:31,754 --> 01:00:33,797
with their local police station and say,
728
01:00:33,881 --> 01:00:37,593
"Okay, we're going to bring
over these finding reports,
729
01:00:37,676 --> 01:00:40,262
and we need you to stamp it and sign it,
730
01:00:41,180 --> 01:00:43,849
and we'll pay you 50 yuan or whatever
for each one that we do."
731
01:00:47,186 --> 01:00:50,564
The finding ads are published
in newspapers that nobody ever reads.
732
01:00:50,647 --> 01:00:55,652
You know, basically, they're just a photo
with some information about the child--
733
01:00:55,736 --> 01:00:57,988
their gender, their health status,
734
01:00:58,072 --> 01:01:00,157
where they were supposedly found,
735
01:01:00,240 --> 01:01:02,451
uh, how old,
their birth dates, and so on.
736
01:01:02,534 --> 01:01:05,162
And then, at the bottom
of the finding ad it says, uh,
737
01:01:05,245 --> 01:01:08,374
"The birth family has 60 days
to retrieve the child,
738
01:01:08,457 --> 01:01:10,959
or the child will be
submitted for adoption."
739
01:01:16,882 --> 01:01:19,885
Looking at
the finding ads in the newspapers,
740
01:01:19,968 --> 01:01:22,513
I wondered about each baby's story.
741
01:01:22,596 --> 01:01:25,140
If they weren't orphans,
742
01:01:25,224 --> 01:01:27,684
were they given to matchmakers
like my own cousin?
743
01:01:31,730 --> 01:01:34,233
I found many sets of twins.
744
01:01:34,316 --> 01:01:36,735
Most of them probably were separated...
745
01:01:38,153 --> 01:01:42,449
and they don't even know that
they have a twin somewhere in the world.
746
01:01:50,499 --> 01:01:53,419
Since 1992 up to now,
747
01:01:53,502 --> 01:01:59,425
at least 130,000 Chinese babies
have been adopted by families overseas.
748
01:01:59,508 --> 01:02:02,302
When you take that information
from all the children
749
01:02:02,386 --> 01:02:03,971
and you collate it together,
750
01:02:04,054 --> 01:02:06,223
you can begin to see patterns.
751
01:02:06,306 --> 01:02:09,977
This is the location that the orphanage
told the adoptive families
752
01:02:10,060 --> 01:02:11,645
where their child was found.
753
01:02:11,728 --> 01:02:14,398
And so you can see-- uh, orphanage gate,
754
01:02:14,481 --> 01:02:18,026
civil affairs, orphanage,
civil affairs, orphanage.
755
01:02:18,110 --> 01:02:20,696
It's clear that, you know,
they're making up the information,
756
01:02:20,779 --> 01:02:24,408
because they're using the same locations
over and over and over again.
757
01:02:24,491 --> 01:02:29,746
The fraud and corruption
I discovered was nationwide.
758
01:02:29,830 --> 01:02:36,837
The following cities have absolutely
been involved in baby trafficking:
759
01:02:51,101 --> 01:02:53,353
It used to be that
family planning would come in
760
01:02:53,437 --> 01:02:54,980
if you had an over-quota child,
761
01:02:55,063 --> 01:02:56,732
and they'd bash down your house
762
01:02:56,815 --> 01:02:59,943
or they'd take a pig
or, you know, do something.
763
01:03:00,861 --> 01:03:03,989
Once the orphanage joined
the international adoption program,
764
01:03:04,072 --> 01:03:05,199
that changed,
765
01:03:05,282 --> 01:03:08,535
and so now they saw kind of
a win-win situation going
766
01:03:08,619 --> 01:03:14,082
where the family planning would go in
and take the child that wasn't registered,
767
01:03:14,166 --> 01:03:15,459
turn it in to the orphanage,
768
01:03:15,542 --> 01:03:18,795
the orphanage would reward
the family planning officials,
769
01:03:18,879 --> 01:03:21,924
and then adopt that child internationally.
770
01:03:24,510 --> 01:03:27,137
I lived in China until I was 26,
771
01:03:27,221 --> 01:03:29,640
but I'd never heard
that government officials
772
01:03:29,723 --> 01:03:33,101
were confiscating babies
during the One-Child Policy.
773
01:03:33,769 --> 01:03:38,148
I was shocked when Brian said
the story was uncovered years ago
774
01:03:38,232 --> 01:03:40,359
when I was still living in China.
775
01:03:41,276 --> 01:03:43,278
This was me back then.
776
01:03:45,572 --> 01:03:47,032
Throughout my life,
777
01:03:47,115 --> 01:03:49,910
I was taught to believe
the love of my country
778
01:03:49,993 --> 01:03:52,871
was equal to love of
the government and the party.
779
01:03:54,581 --> 01:03:57,292
Now, when I look back
at this time in my life,
780
01:03:57,376 --> 01:03:59,753
I'm amazed at my ignorance.
781
01:04:04,550 --> 01:04:10,430
Why do you think that it's
so rarely known if it's so widespread?
782
01:04:10,514 --> 01:04:13,892
The Chinese government
exerted a lot of influence
783
01:04:13,976 --> 01:04:15,519
to suppress the story.
784
01:04:15,602 --> 01:04:19,940
Um, threatened the newspaper,
threatened the reporter.
785
01:04:20,023 --> 01:04:23,610
Um, the reporter ended up
having to leave China, you know,
786
01:04:23,694 --> 01:04:26,113
because of that kind of stuff.
787
01:04:27,155 --> 01:04:28,574
I e-mailed the journalist,
788
01:04:28,657 --> 01:04:30,826
who is in exile in Hong Kong,
789
01:04:30,909 --> 01:04:33,579
and asked if he could meet me.
790
01:04:33,662 --> 01:04:36,999
He agreed, but only if we meet in a hotel,
791
01:04:37,082 --> 01:04:39,918
because he didn't want to
reveal his address.
792
01:04:44,590 --> 01:04:47,926
As soon as the report came out,
I was fired.
793
01:04:48,885 --> 01:04:54,933
The government immediately barred
any follow-up reports on this matter.
794
01:04:56,143 --> 01:04:58,353
Pang had extensive evidence.
795
01:04:58,437 --> 01:05:03,025
He and a colleague had taken cameras
to Hunan Province in 2010.
796
01:05:03,900 --> 01:05:06,612
The government had targeted
families in Longhui County,
797
01:05:07,446 --> 01:05:11,158
one of the poorest places in all of China.
798
01:05:13,327 --> 01:05:15,746
Zhou, are you home?
799
01:05:24,421 --> 01:05:28,342
How old was your granddaughter
when she was taken away?
800
01:05:28,425 --> 01:05:30,510
Three-and-a-half months old.
801
01:05:30,594 --> 01:05:32,429
How did they take her?
802
01:05:32,512 --> 01:05:38,185
I hid with her in this old house.
803
01:05:38,268 --> 01:05:40,187
About eight or nine people
came and took her away.
804
01:05:40,270 --> 01:05:44,066
After they took the baby,
they asked you to pay a fine?
805
01:05:44,149 --> 01:05:45,859
Yes, but we didn't have enough money.
806
01:05:45,942 --> 01:05:50,030
-How much was the fine?
-$2,000.
807
01:05:50,113 --> 01:05:53,367
-Did they ask you or someone else?
-They asked me.
808
01:05:53,450 --> 01:05:55,243
Who asked you?
809
01:05:55,327 --> 01:05:58,455
One of the family planning officials.
810
01:05:58,538 --> 01:06:01,166
I don't remember which one, though.
811
01:06:01,249 --> 01:06:05,379
-A family planning official?
-Yes.
812
01:06:07,714 --> 01:06:09,716
This is where we hid.
813
01:06:11,385 --> 01:06:12,511
You hid here?
814
01:06:12,594 --> 01:06:16,306
Yes, we were hiding in this pigsty.
815
01:06:17,140 --> 01:06:19,142
They asked us to pay $1,500.
816
01:06:20,227 --> 01:06:21,853
$1,500.
817
01:06:23,939 --> 01:06:26,775
[Pang] The government needed money,
818
01:06:26,858 --> 01:06:31,196
so they came up with a scheme
to collect "social maintenance fees."
819
01:06:31,279 --> 01:06:33,657
The Family Planning Office,
820
01:06:33,740 --> 01:06:35,826
the Civil Affairs Bureau,
the police department and the court--
821
01:06:35,909 --> 01:06:39,621
several government agencies
all worked together to collect the fees.
822
01:06:39,705 --> 01:06:43,500
Look! This is a slogan
they wrote on the wall.
823
01:06:43,583 --> 01:06:48,463
"Whoever violates the One-Child Policy
will lose all their possessions."
824
01:06:48,880 --> 01:06:53,552
I filmed this in 2011,
825
01:06:53,635 --> 01:06:58,140
and there were still signs like this.
826
01:06:59,433 --> 01:07:02,602
Growing up,
I saw signs like this everywhere.
827
01:07:41,183 --> 01:07:45,937
How many babies
were abducted in Shaoyang?
828
01:07:48,148 --> 01:07:54,905
I have very concrete evidence for 20,
829
01:07:55,322 --> 01:07:57,199
but that's just the tip of the iceberg.
830
01:08:00,911 --> 01:08:04,998
Zeng Shuangjie, how old are you?
831
01:08:05,081 --> 01:08:06,374
[Zeng] Ten years old.
832
01:08:06,458 --> 01:08:08,210
She was only ten when I met her.
833
01:08:09,669 --> 01:08:12,714
Then he showed me
footage of Zeng Shuangjie.
834
01:08:12,798 --> 01:08:16,802
He told me that Zeng had a twin sister
who was taken away from the family.
835
01:08:18,804 --> 01:08:22,933
They took the older twin sister
away for violating the One-Child Policy
836
01:08:23,016 --> 01:08:24,768
and put her in an orphanage.
837
01:08:26,186 --> 01:08:30,273
The family was told to pay a fine
to get her back.
838
01:08:33,151 --> 01:08:34,736
What did they say about the fine?
839
01:08:34,820 --> 01:08:37,280
They asked for $500 first.
840
01:08:37,364 --> 01:08:40,075
Then the figure grew to $800 the next day,
and then $1,500.
841
01:08:40,158 --> 01:08:41,910
The fine grew with each passing day.
842
01:08:48,959 --> 01:08:53,088
She was soon adopted
by an American family.
843
01:08:53,171 --> 01:08:55,924
The American family
is also a victim in this case
844
01:08:56,007 --> 01:09:01,304
because the state-run orphanage said
845
01:09:01,388 --> 01:09:07,060
the babies were orphans,
846
01:09:07,143 --> 01:09:11,398
while in fact they were not.
847
01:09:12,399 --> 01:09:14,860
In Hong Kong, Pang wrote a book
848
01:09:14,943 --> 01:09:17,571
titled The Orphans of Shao.
849
01:09:17,654 --> 01:09:20,699
He used the twin girl's
picture on the cover.
850
01:09:20,782 --> 01:09:23,285
It couldn't be published in China.
851
01:09:23,368 --> 01:09:25,078
An English version was published
852
01:09:25,161 --> 01:09:28,373
with the help of
a US nonprofit organization.
853
01:09:38,008 --> 01:09:41,761
Since Pang's report
was published in 2011,
854
01:09:41,845 --> 01:09:46,016
the situation of the families in Shaoyang
is basically the same.
855
01:09:46,099 --> 01:09:49,519
There has been no accountability
for the people responsible.
856
01:09:52,063 --> 01:09:57,694
I am here to help you
find your twin daughter.
857
01:09:58,612 --> 01:10:01,197
-This was the younger twin?
-Yes.
858
01:10:01,281 --> 01:10:04,242
She's all grown up.
859
01:10:04,326 --> 01:10:07,412
She's 16 now.
860
01:10:09,039 --> 01:10:15,170
English. E-N-G-L-I-S-H.
861
01:10:15,253 --> 01:10:20,759
History. H-I-S-T-O-R-Y. History.
862
01:10:23,803 --> 01:10:30,560
My dad told me that I have an identical
twin sister who lives in the US now.
863
01:10:30,644 --> 01:10:34,314
When she was taken away,
she had just started to walk.
864
01:10:37,776 --> 01:10:43,365
I wonder if her adoptive parents
treat her well.
865
01:10:44,449 --> 01:10:47,494
The US is a developed country, right?
866
01:10:47,577 --> 01:10:51,289
She probably has milk and bread
for breakfast.
867
01:10:51,373 --> 01:10:54,668
Her life must be very good there.
868
01:11:01,925 --> 01:11:04,094
I hope one day she will come back...
869
01:11:05,595 --> 01:11:08,056
and be reunited with our family.
870
01:11:12,435 --> 01:11:15,480
We'd celebrate the Chinese New Year
together in the spring,
871
01:11:15,563 --> 01:11:19,693
catch fish in the river together
in the fall
872
01:11:19,776 --> 01:11:25,115
and have snowball fights in the winter.
873
01:11:26,408 --> 01:11:30,161
We'd dress the same,
have the same hairstyle,
874
01:11:30,245 --> 01:11:35,417
go to school together, eat together,
and come home together.
875
01:11:35,500 --> 01:11:38,837
It would be so great
to do everything together.
876
01:11:49,222 --> 01:11:53,309
I told Lan the story
about my aunt and my missing cousin.
877
01:11:53,393 --> 01:11:55,812
She said she might be able to help.
878
01:12:00,316 --> 01:12:04,404
How old was your daughter
when she was taken away?
879
01:12:04,487 --> 01:12:06,489
Twenty days.
880
01:12:07,615 --> 01:12:10,785
Even though we were together
for only 20 days,
881
01:12:10,869 --> 01:12:15,498
I felt attached to her and was
very torn when I had to give her up.
882
01:12:16,374 --> 01:12:21,838
I can collect your DNA sample to find out
883
01:12:21,921 --> 01:12:25,383
if there's a match abroad.
884
01:12:25,467 --> 01:12:30,722
Based on her age, there is a high chance--
885
01:12:30,805 --> 01:12:34,434
What is the age group of adoptees
that you located?
886
01:12:34,517 --> 01:12:38,855
The oldest adoptee we located
887
01:12:38,938 --> 01:12:42,692
was born in 1988.
888
01:12:43,109 --> 01:12:45,612
Mine was born in 1989.
889
01:12:45,695 --> 01:12:50,700
The One-Child Policy was very strict then.
890
01:12:50,784 --> 01:12:54,662
Let me first collect your DNA sample.
891
01:12:54,746 --> 01:12:59,709
Please spit into this
until your saliva reaches this line.
892
01:13:01,503 --> 01:13:04,089
I'd be so grateful if you can find her.
893
01:13:04,172 --> 01:13:06,174
You should thank her instead.
894
01:13:10,595 --> 01:13:12,597
After meeting with my aunt,
895
01:13:12,680 --> 01:13:14,766
Lan kept traveling around China,
896
01:13:14,849 --> 01:13:17,268
gathering DNA from families
897
01:13:17,352 --> 01:13:20,480
to test for matches with children abroad.
898
01:13:20,563 --> 01:13:23,233
One thing that struck me was
that everyone we spoke to
899
01:13:23,316 --> 01:13:25,777
said the same things about the policy.
900
01:13:25,860 --> 01:13:27,487
The One-Child Policy was so strict.
901
01:13:27,570 --> 01:13:28,696
The One-Child Policy was extremely strict.
902
01:13:28,780 --> 01:13:30,323
The One-Child Policy was very strict.
903
01:13:30,406 --> 01:13:32,450
The One-Child Policy
was incredibly strict then.
904
01:13:32,534 --> 01:13:34,536
-We had no choice.
-I had no choice.
905
01:13:34,619 --> 01:13:36,871
We really had no choice.
906
01:13:36,955 --> 01:13:42,544
Back then,
there was really nothing we could do.
907
01:13:44,003 --> 01:13:46,589
As I heard the answer again and again--
908
01:13:46,673 --> 01:13:48,508
"I had no choice"--
909
01:13:48,591 --> 01:13:53,096
I realized that you could ask
anyone in any part of China
910
01:13:53,179 --> 01:13:56,307
about how the One-Child Policy
affected them,
911
01:13:56,391 --> 01:13:58,643
and all of them would say
the same thing.
912
01:13:59,686 --> 01:14:01,563
I truly had no choice.
913
01:14:01,646 --> 01:14:03,064
What choice did I have?
914
01:14:04,649 --> 01:14:07,527
I was so angry,
even with my own family,
915
01:14:07,610 --> 01:14:10,321
that there wasn't more
to be said or done.
916
01:14:11,531 --> 01:14:14,784
There was such a shared sense
of helplessness.
917
01:14:14,868 --> 01:14:18,413
It reminded me,
when every major life decision
918
01:14:18,496 --> 01:14:21,040
is made for you, for all your life,
919
01:14:21,124 --> 01:14:24,836
it's hard to feel responsible
for the consequences.
920
01:14:32,177 --> 01:14:35,305
Long Lan and Brian started
testing the DNA samples
921
01:14:35,388 --> 01:14:37,974
she brought back from China.
922
01:14:38,057 --> 01:14:41,477
They didn't find my cousin,
but they did discover a match--
923
01:14:42,187 --> 01:14:46,983
a girl in the United States
who is a DNA match to a family in China.
924
01:14:52,238 --> 01:14:55,909
This is the list
of all the DNA that we've got.
925
01:14:55,992 --> 01:14:59,621
All of it comes into
GEDMatch Genesis database.
926
01:15:00,121 --> 01:15:01,956
So that-- And that's a free database
927
01:15:02,040 --> 01:15:08,546
that allows us then to compare our DNA
with all the DNA, uh, in the database.
928
01:15:08,630 --> 01:15:11,925
I was going through, Lan was doing
some work, and I was just going through.
929
01:15:12,008 --> 01:15:15,553
I go through each of the matches to see
if there was any that were close matches,
930
01:15:15,637 --> 01:15:19,766
and we got to one of the birth families
and it matched to a girl.
931
01:15:19,849 --> 01:15:23,770
And of course I immediately
reached out to the adoptee,
932
01:15:23,853 --> 01:15:26,564
sent her an e-mail and,
uh, let her know that, you know,
933
01:15:26,648 --> 01:15:28,733
if she wanted more information,
she could write us.
934
01:15:29,442 --> 01:15:32,403
And then she wrote back and said,
"Thank you for reaching out to me.
935
01:15:32,487 --> 01:15:36,032
At this moment, I do not want
information regarding my birth family.
936
01:15:36,115 --> 01:15:38,117
I'm not really interested at this time."
937
01:15:38,201 --> 01:15:40,286
Did you tell this family
that you have found their daughter?
938
01:15:40,370 --> 01:15:44,290
I haven't yet.
I just think about the girl's--
939
01:15:44,374 --> 01:15:46,501
the adoptee's response.
940
01:15:47,919 --> 01:15:50,838
It's hard for me
to tell her (mom) this news.
941
01:15:50,922 --> 01:15:56,803
And I can imagine
it would be so disappointing for them
942
01:15:56,886 --> 01:16:01,557
to find out that the daughter
is not even interested
943
01:16:01,641 --> 01:16:05,812
to learn about them
or have their information.
944
01:16:10,692 --> 01:16:13,361
Lan told me that it's actually very common
945
01:16:13,444 --> 01:16:17,448
that adoptees do not want
to contact their birth families.
946
01:16:18,491 --> 01:16:22,912
This also included the children
she located from Hunan Province
947
01:16:22,996 --> 01:16:26,374
who were kidnapped and sent
to orphanages by the government.
948
01:16:26,457 --> 01:16:30,086
No response. It's very disappointing.
949
01:16:30,169 --> 01:16:37,176
When I shared the situation
with some adoptive US parents,
950
01:16:37,260 --> 01:16:42,307
they were completely shocked.
951
01:16:45,018 --> 01:16:47,729
They just couldn't
take it all in at once...
952
01:16:50,064 --> 01:16:53,026
and were in total denial.
953
01:16:53,651 --> 01:16:59,282
They felt as though
the adoption of their daughter
954
01:16:59,365 --> 01:17:03,745
might have caused her
to be abducted from her birth family.
955
01:17:03,828 --> 01:17:06,039
They were also worried that their daughter
956
01:17:06,122 --> 01:17:11,794
might be forcibly returned to China.
957
01:17:11,878 --> 01:17:16,674
They were afraid they'd lose her,
958
01:17:16,758 --> 01:17:21,471
and so they immediately
cut off contact with us.
959
01:17:28,770 --> 01:17:33,191
I am fully aware that
I can't change everything overnight...
960
01:17:35,026 --> 01:17:40,239
but I hope that my efforts
will eventually pay off.
961
01:17:40,323 --> 01:17:44,202
Maybe in ten or 20 years.
962
01:17:44,285 --> 01:17:47,288
One day, when the daughter grows up...
963
01:17:48,498 --> 01:17:51,209
and realizes the situation, she'll...
964
01:18:05,348 --> 01:18:07,100
Okay.
965
01:18:25,660 --> 01:18:26,994
Um...
966
01:18:27,078 --> 01:18:32,083
she'll finally want to meet
with her birth parents.
967
01:18:51,018 --> 01:18:52,645
After leaving Utah,
968
01:18:52,728 --> 01:18:55,857
I decided to take another trip
to China with my son.
969
01:18:57,191 --> 01:19:01,446
I wanted to follow up with the twin girl
whose sister is in America.
970
01:19:01,529 --> 01:19:04,740
I brought the book written by
the journalist in Hong Kong.
971
01:19:07,034 --> 01:19:11,038
While there was no DNA match
for Zeng and her twin sister,
972
01:19:11,122 --> 01:19:13,416
her story had already been made public.
973
01:19:13,499 --> 01:19:18,296
An American journalist located
her twin sister in the United States.
974
01:19:24,177 --> 01:19:27,180
I didn't expect to see myself
on a book cover.
975
01:19:39,775 --> 01:19:41,986
Do you remember meeting this journalist
when you were younger?
976
01:19:42,069 --> 01:19:45,990
No, I was only ten.
977
01:19:46,991 --> 01:19:49,619
-What's your name?
-Zeng Shuangjie.
978
01:19:50,328 --> 01:19:52,121
-Do you miss your sister?
-Yes.
979
01:19:52,205 --> 01:19:54,749
-Do you want to see her?
-Yes.
980
01:20:05,468 --> 01:20:08,387
The One-Child Policy is really--
981
01:20:08,471 --> 01:20:10,139
It took things way too far.
982
01:20:13,559 --> 01:20:17,480
So many babies were taken away.
983
01:20:17,563 --> 01:20:20,525
I didn't even know what was going on
when I was young.
984
01:20:20,608 --> 01:20:24,070
But every child is flesh and blood
from their parents
985
01:20:24,153 --> 01:20:27,657
and no one deserves to be
separated from their parents.
986
01:20:29,575 --> 01:20:32,954
While the American
family did not want to be interviewed,
987
01:20:33,037 --> 01:20:35,831
Zeng and her twin sister
connected through social media.
988
01:20:37,667 --> 01:20:41,504
My dad says that we look almost identical,
989
01:20:41,587 --> 01:20:44,006
but I don't think we're that much alike.
990
01:20:51,389 --> 01:20:53,474
Look. Her eyes in this photo.
991
01:20:53,558 --> 01:20:56,936
If I parted my hair in the middle,
maybe we'd look the same.
992
01:20:58,813 --> 01:21:01,399
Have you asked if she is interested
in visiting China?
993
01:21:02,441 --> 01:21:05,486
No, I didn't think it was
appropriate of me to ask that.
994
01:21:05,570 --> 01:21:06,571
Why?
995
01:21:08,781 --> 01:21:11,409
Because I wanted her to take her time,
996
01:21:11,492 --> 01:21:14,954
think it through and decide for herself.
997
01:21:15,037 --> 01:21:16,664
Has she spoken with your parents?
998
01:21:16,747 --> 01:21:18,207
No.
999
01:21:19,917 --> 01:21:25,006
Do you know how she felt after
learning about her actual background?
1000
01:21:26,340 --> 01:21:27,550
Mmm.
1001
01:21:28,467 --> 01:21:32,471
You never talk about these things?
You aren't curious?
1002
01:21:32,555 --> 01:21:35,182
I've never asked her these questions.
1003
01:21:39,812 --> 01:21:42,356
I don't want to put pressure on her
1004
01:21:42,440 --> 01:21:45,693
and I want her
to take all the time she needs.
1005
01:21:46,277 --> 01:21:47,820
Do you know where she is?
1006
01:21:47,903 --> 01:21:49,071
In the US.
1007
01:21:49,155 --> 01:21:50,948
Do you know where in the US?
1008
01:21:51,032 --> 01:21:52,908
I don't know.
1009
01:21:53,659 --> 01:21:56,370
I don't know why, but I couldn't
bring myself to ask her.
1010
01:21:56,454 --> 01:21:58,456
What are you afraid of?
1011
01:21:59,415 --> 01:22:03,461
Maybe after you asking me these questions
today, I will chat with her about them.
1012
01:22:03,544 --> 01:22:08,591
Don't you think these are things
friends talk about?
1013
01:22:09,675 --> 01:22:11,010
Mmm.
1014
01:22:14,555 --> 01:22:16,766
You said you were afraid
to ask these questions.
1015
01:22:16,849 --> 01:22:19,268
What are your concerns?
1016
01:22:19,935 --> 01:22:24,440
Are you afraid that she might get annoyed
all of a sudden and block you?
1017
01:22:50,174 --> 01:22:54,637
Many years ago,
I felt embarrassed for having a brother.
1018
01:22:56,597 --> 01:23:00,267
But now I feel lucky that
I had someone to grow up with.
1019
01:23:02,019 --> 01:23:05,439
I want my son
to have a sibling like I did,
1020
01:23:05,523 --> 01:23:07,983
but I want that decision to be my own.
1021
01:23:09,235 --> 01:23:12,154
I'm struck by the irony
that I left a country
1022
01:23:12,238 --> 01:23:14,949
where the government
forced women to abort,
1023
01:23:15,032 --> 01:23:19,745
and I moved to another country
where governments restrict abortions.
1024
01:23:21,288 --> 01:23:24,333
On the surface, they seem like opposites,
1025
01:23:24,417 --> 01:23:29,255
but both are about taking away
women's control of their own bodies.
1026
01:23:39,724 --> 01:23:42,977
The One-Child Policy lasted for 35 years.
1027
01:23:44,603 --> 01:23:46,981
Now there aren't enough
young people in China
1028
01:23:47,064 --> 01:23:49,734
to work and care for the elderly.
1029
01:23:52,111 --> 01:23:55,573
So China is introducing
a new family planning policy.
1030
01:24:12,381 --> 01:24:15,551
The signs painted all over my village
have been changed.
1031
01:24:18,053 --> 01:24:21,599
Every trace of the One-Child Policy
is being erased.
1032
01:24:27,229 --> 01:24:29,565
Two children are great
1033
01:24:29,648 --> 01:24:35,529
Like migratory geese
They will return home every year
1034
01:24:41,368 --> 01:24:44,288
But the memory of
what the policy really was
1035
01:24:44,371 --> 01:24:46,582
survives in the minds
of people who lived it.
1036
01:24:48,042 --> 01:24:51,712
If these memories
of the One-Child Policy fade away,
1037
01:24:51,796 --> 01:24:54,632
the only thing left will be propaganda.
1038
01:24:57,384 --> 01:25:00,012
What a truly great national policy!
1039
01:25:00,095 --> 01:25:03,724
Two children allowed for each family!
1040
01:25:03,808 --> 01:25:06,310
The young will have siblings,
the old will be cared for.
1041
01:25:06,393 --> 01:25:11,106
Feeling glorious, we beam with pride!
81834
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