Nanfu Wang was born in a rural village in mainland China and first moved to the U.S. on a full scholarship to study at Ohio University. She was surprised to learn there that certain American states restricted access to abortion. This was in stark contrast to China’s One Child policy, under which she grew up. In China, women were often forced to have abortions if they got pregnant with a second child. She came to see that while the policies seemed oppposite, they were essentially the same. “Governments were trying to control a woman’s body and rights.”
Nanfu Wang’s documentary, ‘One Child Nation,’ is a wrenching examination of how the one child policy affected women, families and babies born in China. As of 2015, the country now has a two child policy.