Desertification
... neglect, abandonment, and even infanticide have been known to occur to female infants. The result of such Draconian family planning has resulted in the disparate ratio of 118 males for every 100 females (105 males are naturally born for every 100 females). To reduce such differences, China has recently allowed some parents of a female to try for a male as their second child. Now that millions of sibling-less people in China are now young adults in or nearing their child-bearing years, a special provision allows millions of couples to have two children legally. If a couple is composed of two people without siblings, then they may have two children of their own, thus preventing too dramatic of a population decrease. Although IUDs, sterilization, and abortion (legal in China) are China's most popular forms of birth control, over the past few years, China has provided more education and support for alternative birth control methods. However, the one-child policy does not mean that all families have only one child. The policy is very difficult to enforce, especially in rural areas, where are enforcement officials are more prone to corruption and families need to be large to support the parents in their old age. In addition, families sometimes attempt to circumvent the law by sending pregnant women to stay with relatives. The resulting child will be unregistered, making it difficult for the child to be educated and advance in life, but will still be able to support the family. First, ethnic minorities are formally excluded from the policy, although some have reported being forced to comply. Second, if both parents are only children, they are allowed to have more than one child provided the children are spaced more than four years apart. As more and more marriages involve only children, this exception could be troubling to Chinese officials. Third, families who have children with mental or physical disabilities are sometimes allowed to have a second child. There has been speculation rece...