Photos: Chinese parents tell of abducted children

Yang Shuiying and two of her daughters on the front porch of her house in Tianxi village, Guizhou province. Another daughter was taken away by a family planning official, who said he was going to sell the child for foreign adoption.

Yang Shuiying and two of her daughters on the front porch of her house in Tianxi village, Guizhou province. Another daughter was taken away by a family planning official, who said he was going to sell the child for foreign adoption.  (Barbara Demick / Los Angeles Times)

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Orphanage's ad

The orphanage followed the law by publishing photographs of baby girls that would be put up for adoption, but the ad falsely claimed that the babies had been found abandoned when in fact they had been confiscated by family planning. The daughter of Yang Shuiying and Lu Xiande is on the top row, second from the left. The ad ran Aug. 14, 2004, in the Guizhou City Daily.  (Barbara Demick / Los Angeles Times)

A granddaughter abducted

Liu Suzhen, a frail woman from Huangxin village in Hunan province, was baby-sitting her 4-month-old granddaughter one night in March 2003 when a dozen officials stormed her house. Family planning officials held her hand and pushed her thumb on a document forfeiting rights to her granddaughter who was taken away for adoption.  (Barbara Demick / Los Angeles Times)

A daughter in the U.S.

Yang Libing and his wife, Cao Zhimei, with their son. Their daughter was taken away in 2005. “Our children were exported abroad like they were factory products,” said Yang, a migrant worker from Hunan province. He has since learned that their daughter is in the United States.  (Barbara Demick / Los Angeles Times)

A missing daughter

The ad says, NOTICE TO SEEK RELATIVES and claims the 9-month-old baby was found in a yellow shirt and red pants at a social welfare instiitute. In fact, the baby is Yang Libing’s daughter, confiscated from his home.  (Barbara Demick / Los Angeles Times)

Missing twin

Shangjie, 9, with her mother Yuan Qianhua, wonders about the twin sister who was taken away as a toddler by family planning officials who said the family had too many children. They live in Gaoping, Hunan Province.  (Barbara Demick / Los Angeles Times)

"Focusing on humanity"

The family planning office in Jiaoxi on the outskirts of Zhenyuan. Confiscated babies from villages like Tianxi were originally brought here. The signs says, “Your health is our wish.... Focusing on humanity.”  (Barbara Demick / Los Angeles Times)