Bittersweet baby boom in quake area

Wu Jiangqiong (L), 40, and her husband hold their boy-girl twins in Mianzhu, Southwest China’s Sichuan province, March 10, 2010. The couple lost their 17-year-old daughter in the May 2008 earthquake and were devastated, until they were informed that bereaved mothers in their 30s and 40s would receive free reproduction services from the end of June 2008. According to the city's population and family planning bureau, of the 896 Mianzhu women who wanted to have another child in the wake of the disaster, 489 had given birth and 109 had conceived. The bureau first provided physical examinations and psychological consultations to the grieving mothers. Second, pregnant women who suffer from diseases are to receive free treatment and finally, infants under 3 years are ensured early childhood education. [Photo/Xinhua]