The Burden Of Birth:the Reproductive Behavior Of Illegal Birth Women (1979-1999)

Research on female reproductive behavior is an enduring issue. The phenomenon of illegal birth in China is a result of The Family Planning Policy. Although the scale of illegal birth group is very large, the academic research on them is quite rare. For women who have more children than a defined number, they pay the most behind the so-called tremendous achievements of The Family Planning Policy. Unfortunately, Owing to be labeled as offenders, they were largely ignored by the mainstream research, and their practice and experience on illegal birth is still in mystery.This article is a try to study population problem from the anthropological perspective. On the basis of a review of the adjustment of China’s population policy and changes of the female reproductive environment, this article investigated the birth stories of women who have more children than a defined number in a typical rural community in China during the80s to90s in20th century. Several findings are listed s follows.Firstly, since1979, fundamental changes have taken place in China’s family planning policy. Before1979, the so called "family planning" mostly means contraception and birth control, which is a result of the industrial revolution. However, since1979, the state has being playing a more and more important role in controlling people’s reproductive behavior.At the same time, under the impetus of the state’s population policy, the practice of female reproduction changed dramatically. Firstly, the banners about family planning policy have been one part of the village’s collective memory. Although they once played an important role in changing people’s attitudes on birth, they brought damages to people’s daily life as well. Secondly, the concept of contraception and birth control have been widely received, but the birth control movement, by promoting and popularizing birth control surgery such as vaginal ring operation (for one-child women) and ligation (for the other women), has brought serious damages. Thirdly, comprehensive sterilization requirements created obstacles to those women who wanted another child. Not only women’s decision-making process and mechanism of productive have changed, in the process of trying to get pregnant, they had to take harmful measures to help creating a new life. Fourthly, because of a comprehensive monitoring of the body, those who wanted to have more children than a defined number had to hide or escape for a while before the baby is born. Fifthly, to many who failed to escape, mandatory abortion was the most brutal experience they’ve been experienced. At last, heavy punishment affected their daily life, confiscating one’s property or taking down his house was a collective memory to illegally birth group in China.During these decades of the implementation of The Family planning policy, means of state control of the country have changed dramatically. However, the stories of illegal birth group (especially the women) tell us that, even in post-agricultural-tax era, the state power in the country has remained very strong. Under the long-term population policy, the subtle relationship between the Chinese government and individual peasant has been revealed. On the other hand, by rewriting the history of birth, The Family Planning Policy played an important role in the transformation of women’s private life. On the one hand, in the field of birth, the mechanism that family completely determined women’s reproductive behavior gradually disintegrated. On the other hand, the popularization of contraceptive technology has brought earth-shaking changes to the relationship between husbands and wives. For women, the importance of intimacy and emotion rises, the concept of small family is more and more accepted, women’s individual consciousness is also enhanced.