Country of Lost Children

"I think there must be something wrong with treating children as goods... but I can't figure out what it is."

I knew about China's "One-Child Law" from grade school. Started in 1979 to curb the population growth. It always seemed like a funny thing to have to do, but the larger social ramifications never occurred to me.

Until I caught "China's Stolen Children", a co-production between HBO Documentary Films and Channel 4. Part of HBO's terrific "new documentaries every Monday" series.

In the culture, sons grow up to take care of their parents in their old age; daughters grow up to take care of their husband's parents. Which is why sons are much more prized.

This, in conjunction with the one-child policy, has led to untold numbers of abortions. A lost generation of girls. Leading to an obvious longer term disparity in the gender ratio.

And a larger immediate issue: a booming underground economy selling stolen kids.