By+WANG+NAN

THE modification of Chinas birth control policy which allows couples where either parent is a single offspring to have a second child came into force at the end of 2013. Although many young couples are indeed eager to have a second child， there are also plenty who are not. For many， whether or not to give birth a second time is a weighty decision.

Avoid Only-Child Loneliness

Guo Qian， 30， formally announced her intention to conceive and give birth to a sibling – with luck a sister – for her son at a birthday dinner for her mother-in-law in a Beijing roast duck restaurant.

Guos son Dafeng is five years old. After coming home from kindergarten he spends most of his time playing on his iPad. Since he began to watch the TV show Where Are We Going， Dad？ with his mother， Dafeng has taken a shine to Cindy， one of the characters in this program， who recently bought an Ultra Egg toy for her younger brother. This impressed Dafeng sufficiently to plead with his mom to give birth to a sister for him.

Guo Qian was born in 1983， after the“single child” family planning policy had come into force.

Upon its founding in 1949， the population of New China was 540 million. By 1954 it had grown to more than 600 million， and by 1969 had topped 800 million – a huge burden on what was then a poor country. Measures to control the population growth， therefore， were imperative. By September 1982， family planning had been legislated as a fundamental state policy， and was strictly enforced during the succeeding 10 or more years. By 2005， an additional 400 million births， which could have included younger siblings of Guo Qian， had been avoided.

More than half of Guos generational contemporaries are single children. “I dont want my son to suffer the loneliness I experienced as a child，” Guo Qian said.

Guos husband is similarly keen for Dafeng to have a sibling as a companion. This was impossible until the recent relaxation of the family planning policy， whose coming into effect presages major changes in the couples family life. Guo and her husbands economy drive in preparation for a fourth mouth to feed entails， among other savings， giving up membership of the local fitness club.

“Its sad for an only child never to experience the happiness and companionship that comes from having siblings，” Guo Qian said. She recalls how silent her home seemed when her parents worked overtime. Toys， and the TV cartoon characters the Blue Smurfs and Mole， were her sole companions in an empty apartment.endprint