A few months ago I was talking with a small group of Chinese women, two of whom were originally from China. During the course of the conversation the two from China revealed that they were half sisters.

I was aware that because of China's One Child Policy full siblings are a rarity.

The half sisters explained their origin. When father's first wife produced a daughter he divorced her and remarried. He wanted a son. When the second wife, who was the mother of one of the half sisters, also produced a dughter he also divorced her and remarried. That third wife was the mother of the other half sister. Again he divorced and remarried. The fourth wife produced a son but he was afflicted with Down's Syndrome. The father then decided to give up.

This story indicates that China's One Child Policy was really a policy of one child per woman.

Conclusions