Risk of punishment

Professor Johnson said that when families who have given birth in violation of the family planning policy formally put their children up for adoption they are fined. "Their property may be taken from them and they could lose their jobs," she said. Even if it's not against the family planning policy, they still run the risk of getting charged for the crime of abandonment if they are found to not have been qualified to put their children up for adoption.

To better guide people who decide to give away their children, the Chinese government has been trying out new methods, Chen said, citing the now-scrapped baby hatch in Guangzhou, where anonymous parents could safely abandon babies. Unfortunately, the hatch, which ran for just 48 days, was suspended last month. All the 262 babies received during the period had different types of disabilities. It was the first baby hatch that had to be shut down since the scheme was first trialled in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, in June 2011.

To explain the high numbers of people using the hatch and why it was shut down, Chen said that people believed their children would have better chances in Guangzhou.