Found on Netflix - Nannies as the forgotten face of China's orphanages

[OhHolyJesus]

I watched this recently and it's been spinning around my head so needed to get it out somewhere.

The documentary focuses on three teenage girls who do DNA tests and find each other on the registry as cousins. It's a beautiful story of how they explore their genealogical bewilderment and share similar and different experiences of being adopted by white American couples.

They travel together with a woman who helps them track down possible relatives but they also find the women who cared for them since they were abandoned, most likely because of the one child policy and cultural importance of sons.

One of the adopted mothers explains how angry she was to see marks on the hands and wrists of the babies but she knew this was because the orphanages wasn't heated and they wanted the babies to be warm at night and not wriggle free from blankets. The women were just doing the best they could.

The researcher finds nannies who either worked at, or still worked at, the orphanages and their stories show them not to be cold-hearted but actually wonderful women who loves the children they cared for, in the best way they could. Cuddling them and showing them love in the absence of a parent, adoptive or otherwise.

It's really a beautiful story and one I wanted to share. Though it's not the focus of the programme their stories struck me as being important and should be heard.

time.com/6109091/found-netflix-adoption/?amp=true

I’m going to watch it on your recommendation OP! I know what you mean when you see or read something and it buzzes around your head forever.

This looks at the consequences of the one child policy in China:

"Just this year, China has increased the permitted number of children to three. China isn’t the only one making moves to improve both its population growth and future. Singapore, like other places around the world, has seen a decrease in fertility rates. Really, to say a decrease in “fertility” is a bit of a misnomer. “Fertility” is declining because women and men are delaying marriage and childbearing to pursue other aspirations and fulfill other life goals. People can still have babies; they are just waiting too long. The biological clock stops for no one."

(It goes on to talk about egg freezing and I was amazed that one Australian study showed that only 6% of those who froze their eggs went back to use them!)

www.cbc-network.org/2021/09/chinas-family-planning-crisis/?mc_cid=af6370963d&mc_eid=4c6b37d78d