Earthquake project delivers joy to moms
- Source: Global Times
- [01:56 May 05 2010]
- Comments
By Huang Jingjing
Several thousand women who lost their children during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake have given birth or are expected to have a baby soon, thanks to a government-funded reproductive program, according to reports.
Statistics provided by the National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) showed that 3,140 women affected by the earthquake became pregnant, and 2,106 babies were born.
The project provided help including free medical treatment and artificial insemination.
The devastating 8-magnitude earthquake on May 12, 2008, killed about 70,000 people, injured 370,000 and left about 18,000 missing.
The NPFPC launched the program two months after the earthquake to help the broken families reproduce.
The Ministry of Finance allocated 100 million yuan ($14 million) to the project, and the provincial government of Sichuan added another 29 million yuan ($4.2 million).
"Children are the hope of the family and spiritual pillar of the parents. Losing children is the biggest sorrow and strike to the family," an unidentified official from the NPFPC told media earlier, adding that the project is based on those parents' own will.
Wang Zhengrong, 49, and his husband Yong Xingfa, 55, are one of the beneficiaries of the project.
The couple lost their only daughter and granddaughter in the earthquake.
On April 17, Wang gave birth to a girl, according to Chengdu Business News.
Yong broke down in tears upon receiving the new baby into the family.
"I prefer a girl. I will call you Hong. I hope you will have a happy life, and hope the family see rainbows after getting over the earthquake," Yong told the baby.
The family of Tang Xiaobo, 39, another beneficiary from Shifang, dedicate all of their attention to their new one-month-old baby.
The family lost a 12-year old boy in the earthquake.
Their new baby, a 3.7-kilogram test tube baby girl, arrived April 10.
Tang's husband praised the medical workers.
"Every time when the expert came to my house, they told us what we should do and what we should not do. Due to their frequent visits, our neighbors are even familiar with them," the husband told the West China City Daily.
In addition to Sichuan, similar projects were also launched in Yushu, Qinghai Province, which was struck by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake last month.
A hospital in South China's Guangdong Province recently announced that they plan to offer four months of free infertility treatment to childless parents in the prefecture, where at least 2,200 people were killed in the earthquake.
