Strollerderby

If only women in China (and here, too) were given the support they need to breastfeed, so many more would have chosen that option in the first place. If all women had access to paid time off from work, adequate pumping facilities and pumping breaks once they returned to work, and highly trained lactation consultants to help them resolve any issues, we would see more women breastfeeding, and continuing to breastfeed for longer.

Some people would still choose to formula-feed, and that's their right, but more people would be making an informed decision do so, rather than just feeling like it's the only workable option.

As for sharing breastmilk, while it obviously cannot be medically recommended due to the possibility of sharing contagions, I think it can be done with few problems so long as the women involved are healthy. As an added bonus, if more women who have the ability to produce abundant milk were to do so, those women who couldn't exclusively breastfeed due to illness, breast surgeries, breast abnormalities, etc. could much more easily obtain milk from other women to supplement or fully feed their babies.

I'm just heartbroken that this woman had to give up her daughter for the governmental regulation. I do understand the need for population control, I am worried about overpopulation and poverty, and I know that a policy like this across the globe might go a long way towards solving these problems, and would need consequences to work - but, I can't imagine the heartbreak here, and it makes me feel awful.

Lots of wierd things going on in China. The C-section rate is the highest in the world - around 50% or close to that. And the vast majority of mothers do not breastfeed. I'm not sure why that is. Just a few decades ago formula was not even available in China, and if you could not breastfeed your baby, or find someone else who could, your baby would just starve.