A Mother's Ordeal: One Woman's Fight Against China's One-Child Policy

by Steven W. Mosher

Social scientist and China expert Mosher relates the story of Chi An, a former population-control worker in China, whose own second pregnancy became the catalyst for her fight to stay in the U.S. "A searing and candid look at a place where the state brutally intrudes into the most intimate parts of a woman's life."--Kirkus Reviews.

Genres: China, Nonfiction, Biography, History, Asia, Politics, Memoir

335 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Steven W. Mosher is an internationally recognized authority on China and population issues, as well as an acclaimed author, speaker. He has worked tirelessly since 1979 to fight coercive population control programs and has helped hundreds of thousands of women and families worldwide over the years.

In 1979, Steven was the first American social scientist to visit mainland China. He was invited there by the Chinese government, where he had access to government documents and actually witnessed women being forced to have abortions under the new “one-child policy.” Mr. Mosher was a pro-choice atheist at the time, but witnessing these traumatic abortions led him to reconsider his convictions and to eventually become a practicing, pro-life Roman Catholic.

Steven has appeared numerous times before Congress as an expert in world population, China, and human rights abuses. He has also made TV appearances on Good Morning America, 60 Minutes, The Today Show, 20/20, FOX and CNN news, as well as being a regular guest on talk radio shows across the nation.

Articles by Steve have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Reader’s Digest, The New Republic, The Washington Post, National Review, Reason, The Asian Wall Street Journal, Freedom Review, Linacre Quarterly, Catholic World Report, Human Life Review, First Things, and numerous other publications.

Steven Mosher lives in Virginia with his wife, Vera, and their nine children.

Reviews

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up after a recommendation from awhile back, and I didn't put it down until I'd read it cover to cover. It was gripping. For me, at least.

It's the story of a woman who grew up in China under Chairman Mao, lived through a famine, his Cultural Revolution, communism, poverty, craziness, marriage, a baby, a child she was forced to abort under their one child policy, a stint as a population control worker where she performed and assisted with many abortions (as far along as a babies being carried to term, born and killed right there on the hospital bed), and rounded up illegally pregnant women and forced them into abortions. It was horrible. I can't even describe it. You just have to read about it yourself.

Next she found herself accidentally pregnant again, but in America where her husband was studying at a university. Because she was in America, she tried to petition to keep her second child, still devastated by her own forced abortion years ago in China. China said no way, and if you don't obey us, here is a gigantic list of horrible consequences when you come back. They petitioned for political asylum to stay in the United Stated. Initially rejected, they eventually were allowed to stay and keep their second child.

Here is the interesting thing: I knew the basic outline of the story from the summary at the beginning of the book. I was expecting to cheer for her to keep her baby at the end, safe in America. And I didn't WANT her to abort that baby, but... and I know she agrees with me in many ways, it seemed so unfair for her to have forced so many women into late term abortions, chased them down in their hiding places, dragged them into the hospitals...even though she was just following orders that she couldn't really refuse...and then to jump at a chance to have her own baby because she had an opportunity. I mean, she found a friend in hiding at her sister's house, reported her and brought her into a secure holding place, saw her going into labor and was begged by this friend to lie and say the baby was delivered in the night when she was gone, but didn't...she took her to the hospital where she was forced to have a partial birth abortion. (Which really is a dumb name. It's not abortion. It's murder. It's killing a baby that in three seconds will be out and breathing on it's own. And sometimes they don't die like they're supposed to, and it takes hours before they're finally dead. So fun to listen to your half murdered baby crying in the garbage can for three hours, right?)

But I don't think the woman in this book is evil. I think her country's government was evil. How can I blame her for doing what she was forced to do, and what she was tormented by? How can it be unfair for that same woman not to do everything she can to save her own baby when she had a chance? She's a good woman and a loving mother. She originally went to school to be a nurse and help people, oh my heck.

It's one of those awful dilemmas. Communist China sucks. Chairman Mao sucked. Why does everyone talk about Hitler all the time and how evil he was, but people tend to skim over Mao and Stalin and other guys who were just as bad or worse? I love America. I'm never leaving.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Chinese adoptee, reading this book both broke my heart and opened my eyes. Learning about what women went through made my heart ache, yet made me realize how fortunate I am to be alive. I would highly recommend this book for adults who want to know more about China's One-Child Policy.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Returning from China I was obsessed with learning more about the culture I had just experienced for nine months. This was an extraordinary book for its candid discussion on the one child policy. As a new mother I'm not sure I would even be able to finish it because of the description of forced abortions and forced fertility however it's a necessary read. My favorite part of the book was when the author, in response to the outpouring of support for her to receive asylum in the US due to her second pregnancy, learned the beauty of the Golden Rule. She said that in China the culture was to not harm others so the idea of actually DOING unto others as you would have them do unto you was an immense revelation.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for my education credits for our upcoming adoption. It was fascinating to read one persons life experiences in the family planning department in china during the 1980's. It also gave me a much better understanding of China's history. It has led me to reading a lot more china history. I am glad I read this book. I think it will help me share Chinese history and culture with my new little boy.

[Maja - BibliophiliaDK ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

For large parts of this book I wrestled with nausia and generel discomfort at the vivid descriptions of abortions being made as late as during the birth itself. It was horrific to read and must have been even more horrifying to live through. This is without a doubt a book that makes you stop, think and re-evaluate.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

For Heaven's sake! I cannot believe that such barbaric practices are enforced. Reading this story about the recent history of China is so depressing. How could 1 billion people be puppets to a cruel and ridiculous government? How could they turn loyalty to family and authority into the worship of a party leader in the form of prayers and fighting with neighbors. They actually stopped being kind to each other because it was seen as a threat to the government. I, like many Americans, have not thought much about the one child policy. I've never considered it on a personal female level before. My goodness, how can they do these things. One woman made a point, "I can afford to feed this one child. He is my responsibilty." As difficult as my two children are I'm still open to bringing more souls into this world to enjoy the sunshine, the flowers, the friendships, and the immense pleasure of being alive. To deny an entire nation the joy of birth and renewel is ludicrous and self-destructive. Especially as Easter comes and I rejoice in the newness of life here and in the eternities to come, I am humbled to be a free American with the freedom to live, laugh and love! God bless our nation and help us find ways to relieve our burdened neighbors. Although I always have disagreed with war in Iraq, if it brings freedom to mothers there they didn't have before, then we should continue on. We are a nation of service. I just hope that the day some lunatic comes into the White House and becomes tyranical that some foreign country would come and free us from his/her cluthes.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I got a copy of this book when, as a member of my university's pro-life organization, I went to the lecture that the author was given. It was interesting, but I wasn't too keen on the book. Still, he was offering it at a discount rate, and it seemed rude not to buy it, so I grudgingly bought my copy and stood in line to have him sign it for me. I promptly tossed the book on my bookshelf and forgot about it. However, later I found myself needing something new to read, and, being too lazy to hit the library, picked it up. It started out a bit slowly, but I wound up reading the entire thing that night. The story is thought provoking and has your emotions running amok. The fact that it's true only makes it all the more amazing. Definitely recommend this book to all who find interest in anything ranging from world politics to motherhood.

[Melanie Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea China went to such great lengths to inforce the 1-child policy. It's mind-blowing that abortion is murder in america, and in china the government FORCES women to have abotions. Evan late term, right up until the baby is born. The government views life starting at the first breath. If they abort before the child can take it's first breath, they see nothing wrong with it. They also see nothing wrong with leaving a 8 month old baby in the trash can to die. To avoid the child crying, the abortionist gives babies a shot in their head as soon as they start to crown, so they will be born dead. I feel so sorry for all of those millions of mothers in china who had their children murdered by their very own government. This was a great book... it opened up a whole new appreciation for American for me.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this book. I thought the author did a good job of explaining the culture - and making you cringe. Truly I didn't like the author, even when she changed her mind about forced abortions. I didn't feel sorry for her situation, but I did appreciate the challenges of growing up in a country where she didn't have the freedom to choose anything, let alone having more than one child.

It was most interesting to me as I was studying China in my econ class and learning about the changes some people would like to make to their communist country.

[Amanda Farley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous look at the impact China's one child policy has on one family. Chi An was a nurse and a respected part of the one child task force taking part in and carrying out abortions to meet the requirements of the "one child" policy. Her life changes when she leaves to spent two years in America with her husband - a research scientist as far as I remember and while there inadvertantly conceives a second child. This family were eventually given asylum in America and Chi An's daughter was born safely.

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the most horrifying books I've ever read - but found myself having a hard time putting it down. The viciously anti-human (the one-child policy only one example) side of Communism that you never quite hear about in textbooks or news articles becomes clear here. This book made me absolutely sick to my stomach and wanting to cry, but gave me a newfound appreciation of the freedoms that I usually take for granted and a deeper appreciation for the sanctity of life.

[Bernadette Raymer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautiful and very powerful. It is an important book to read to understand the value of human life. I have read many books such as "Boys in the Boat" by Daniel Brown and "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand. I would, in my own opinion, put this book at the same level as those. I did not put the book down however there were points in the book where it became very depressing and I was going to stop altogether. I am glad I fought through the story. It became one of my favorite books.

[Darlene Hayden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a meaty book! Not only was her personal story interesting but learning how an entirely different country runs really opened my eyes. China's government, what demands it puts on their people was more than I ever imagined. This is a very graphic book that I am very glad I took the time to read. It will change you.

[Missy Funderburk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I knew what Communism is. I thought I understood the evil of abortion. It turns out that I only knew the tiniest tip of the iceberg. Everyone should read this book and learn the truth through someone who lived it. May God forgive us as we repent from doing nothing.

[Kristin Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely unbelievable. Unfathomable that the government is/was so involved in the intimate affairs of women. This book was tough to read but completely fascinating.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely terrifying and gripping non-fiction account (published in 1993) of Chi An’s life in China. Chi An grew up in China under Chairman Mao, lived through a famine and the Cultural Revolution and communism and poverty, had a horrendous childbirth experience (C-section with no anesthesia, only acupuncture), was forced to abort her 2nd child under the one child policy, and served as a population control worker where she assisted with many forced abortions (even horrendous “post-birth abortions”, which tragically happen in the USA too). I cannot comprehend this culture which leads women to lock other women up in warehouses until they agree to have an abortion. I was going to say this is a great pro-life book, but it’s just as much a pro-choice book: anyone who considers herself “pro-choice” should be horrified by so many women having no choice about bearing a second child.

Lyrad and I traveled around China in 2001 when I was 7 months pregnant. When Chinese people I talked to found out this was our 5th child, they were horrified. After being so indoctrinated about how having more than one child was detrimental to the country, they considered me an outlaw or something. It was not the reaction of “Oh, you’re so lucky that you are allowed to have multiple children,” that I was expecting.

Reading A Mother’s Ordeal stirs up so many emotions, including tears of gratitude that I was born in the USA where I have never lived through a famine, I live with basic freedoms (speech, religion, travel) unknown to the Chinese, and most important: I could have as many children as I chose to have.

I can’t recommend this book enough… even if you skip over the terrifying “family planning” experiences, the stories of growing up during the Cultural Revolution and people surviving famine in the countryside are valuable. We all need to be aware of the horrors that resulted from Mao’s central planning and his encouragement of “class struggle”. Then we can try to prevent the USA from taking similar paths (e.g. “Let’s overhaul our whole economy because the world might end in 12 years if we don’t! But don’t ask me to change my lifestyle -- only the common people will have to!” and “Racism is everywhere! You are racist even if you don’t know it! But my racist comments don’t matter because I’m in an oppressed class so I get a pass. Let’s tear down those evil white capitalists!”). Anyone who thinks communism or socialism or collectivism sounds appealing needs to read about Mao’s China (or Stalin’s Russia or Venezuela today) to see how socialism works out in reality.

Quote near the end of the book:
“Even after I had rejected forced abortion and sterilization, I remained convinced that my fatherland’s population was the number one obstacle to its prosperity….I have since learned that the enormous wealth of the United States was created by individuals, not by the government….Most of the countries of the developed world...are more densely populated than China. Despite this ‘overcrowding’, none of these countries has declared war on its own people the way China has…. Could it be that what is mistakenly called overpopulation is really just underdevelopment?... In my experience the Chinese Communist Party has produced little but misery in its four-plus decades in power… Tens of millions of my countrymen have been starved to death in famines. Tens of millions have been tormented in repeated political campaigns. Again and again large sectors of the population- the capitalists, the landlords, the intellectuals, the students at Tiananmen Square- have been singled out and persecuted for problems largely of the Party’s own making. I see now that China’s continuing ills- its poverty, hunger, health problems, housing shortages, transportation problems, lack of education, unemployment, overcrowding, resource depletion, soil erosion, and environmental degradation- are in large part the direct result of nearly half a century of Party misrule. How convenient for the authorities to have a prestigious foreign theory- overpopulation- that allows them once again to shift the blame onto the Chinese people.” -pp. 333-4

--------Interesting note about the author (from a recent online article):
Remember Stanford scholar Steven Mosher? Way back in the 1980s, the man was reviled in scholarly circles for exposing just these brutal realities about China. Instead of being praised for adding to the scholarly body of knowledge, he was abused, slandered, accused of process crimes, and eventually kicked out of his Ph.D. program because he reported the truth about what was happening. This was at the urging of the Chinese government, which wanted all news of its cruelty kept hidden — the lies-violence cycle that Alexander Solzhenitsyn described as so necessary to all totalitarian tyrannies. I recall that controversy back when I was a student studying Chinese history, and my professor called Mosher “a rat” because his revelations about China’s forced abortions and human rights violations angered the Chinese communist government and caused it to limit opportunities for scholarly research on China.
-Monica Showalter

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was very difficult and heavy to read, but that’s because it dealt with such a heavy and important topic. Just the other day on the news, they said that China now allows families to have 3 children, because of the decreasing population size. That means that everything in this book is still a reality. I didn’t know these things were going on, but now that I’ve read this book it really breaks my heart. I live in the west, where it’s such a huge thing that women get to control their own body, and then you read about what some of our sisters in the east are going through and it’s like a different world. Truly horrifying, but so important to be aware of. This book is so well-written too, with the perspective of a woman who has been on both sides: the villain and the victim. Such a good book. Please read it.

[Angelica Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

“There is a Chinese saying: ‘Together endure hardship, forever be close.’”

It was hard for me to get into this book because the first half felt like a history lesson, but once it became more like a memoir, I loved it. This book highlights the sad reality of living in China during the One Child Policy. It is so important to talk about and the world largely overlooks it. I like how personal this book felt rather than reading a history book (if history books included things other than white victories).

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

It saddens and quite frankly concerns me to know that so few people have read this book. The term "must read" is thrown around too much, but this would be a must read. Well-written and fast-moving, the book fully held my attention. I cannot believe how horrifying China was and is, and there are many great warning signs for America found in this book without them being pointed out directly to the reader. They are glaring nonetheless.

[Winston Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. The author ignores the big picture. More children means more mouths to feed. Even in the most affluent society, children cannot work full-time until they're at least 18.

It seems Steven would want to bring us back to the days of children working in coal mines and doing unpaid labor on their parents' farms.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another devestating, disturbing, important book. Despite how difficult it was, the stories in here deserve to be known. Everyone in the world needs to read this, and communist China needs to be held accountable for the blood of all the innocent souls murdered. The women and children of this book deserved better.

[KatKat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could remember who recommended this book to me as it was an eye-opening experience. I feel so grateful for living in a free country, and reading this book makes me shocked.

The story is detailed, yet managed to keep a pace that kept me interested in the family. It's the good and the bad, and five stars.

[Derek Sanderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a page-turner!!! Very moving, powerful story!!!

Oh my, I lost sleep reading this book! It was so interesting, and very timely in an age, in North America, where idealistic youngsters are strangely considering the benefits of socialist or communist ideologies. When governments remove civil or human rights from citizens for the supposed good of the whole, oppression, in the enactment of those policies, is never far behind. China's one child policy is no exception! How dreadful, how cruel the tactics to force people to comply. And how easily many came to embrace it, not only to survive, but also to bring meaning and false comfort to the pain of compliance. Through the eyes of the main character, we see the idiocy, incompetence, and outright wickedness of the Mao regime. We see citizens, once family and friends, spying on each other, or turning each other in for a measly reward. We see what happens when individual thought is suppressed. And we see the politics of equality for all for what it is - a lie. Those with power always retain the upper hand and the benefits power brings, while the rest are made to suffer. Over time, the main character comes to find a greater truth than what she has been taught. Her incredible journey is a testament to human fragility, with all its ills, and the grace we desperately need to transcend it.

[Jena Ramsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this book wasn’t exactly what I expected, but I think it’s a must read. I did not understand the extent of the 1 child policy or the government initiative behind it. I cried quite a few times and had to take a few breaks so go into it knowing it’ll make you emotional at times.

[Okidoki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bara en dotter:
Till formen som en skoluppsats.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely heartrending and gripping read!

[Jodiellsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad. Crazy. Didn’t know much about this before reading this book.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely fascinating read, I had no idea all that this book would entail.

[Kornelia Dyrseth · Rating 5 out of 5]

grusom, men god

[Louise Clausen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hørt lydbok på Storytel
helt sykt historie, noen burde arrestert Kina som en helhet for ettbarnspolitikken😩