In many places of the world, it is common for all children to be born equal – regardless of their gender.
However, in some regions of the world, whether a boy or a girl is born makes a significant impact.
During the 1980s, China implemented a policy permitting just one child per family, which resulted in many abortions based on the gender of the child and parents leaving their kids.
In China, a girl isn’t necessarily treated with the same respect as a boy. A boy has a better chance of getting a job than a girl, not to mention a far more significant compensation.
This kind of thinking has resulted in many social issues in China, mainly how society handles women.
After the “one-child” policy was implemented, many families who had daughters decided to place them in orphanages in the hopes that they might be adopted one day.
However, not all parents acted in the same way, and the most prevalent solution was to abandon them in the woods or on the street — in a shoe box.
Yu Shangzhong was one of the few people who refused to stand by and see this unfold before his eyes.
Yu Shangzhong and his partner adopted their first daughter 35 years ago, when Yu was 40 years old, as per Asian news.
Yu discovered an abandoned baby on the street four years later. Yu’s heart wouldn’t let him leave the baby in a shoe box, so he took her home.
Yu and his wife adopted the baby and adopted twelve more abandoned daughters over the next few years.
In 1998, his two younger daughters were discovered abandoned inside a shoe box. The girls were born within a week of each other.
Despite having a huge family, life wasn’t simple for Yu and his wife, who live in Wenzhou, Chekiang province.
As the family’s sole breadwinner, Yu had to work as hard as he could during his part-time employment.
It was tough to feed all the girls and put food on the table.
“We had some difficult days. My mother used to carry me on her back when I was a little kid, collecting food scraps from the street or even begging for money from strangers,” his older daughter Yu Xaeisong told the South China Morning Post. “People gave us money and old clothing,” says the narrator.
Yu and his wife opted to locate another couple to adopt his elder girls as they grew older due to the challenging circumstances in which they lived.
This would improve the daughters’ chances of a happy existence. Four of the girls are currently enrolled at university, where they get modest financial assistance from the government.
Five of Yu’s daughters continue to live with him and his wife.
One of the girls prepared a portrait with Chinese needlework for Yu’s living room. Five Chinese letters translate to ‘a tranquil family shall thrive.’
After everything the family has been through, they have chosen to look forward to the future with optimism and hope.
Yu’s daughters also purchased him a golden ring on his 70th birthday to show their love for him.
This story serves as a beautiful reminder of how fortunate some of us are to live in some parts of the world.
And it’s difficult not to be impressed by Yu’s determination to aid these orphaned daughters, who are now his own!
Please share this message to show your support for Yu’s deeds since he is a man who deserves it more than most!