Reports Began to Surface
Demick’s eyes widened. Of course, she hadn’t forgotten. She remembers exactly who this person was. In 2009, Demick worked as a Beijing-based correspondent for the L.A. Times. She traveled to the rural area of central China to investigate the roots of more than 80,000 baby girls who were adopted in the United States.
Flight attendants with Chinese children being brought over to be adopted by British parents. Photo by ANL / Shutterstock
Popular opinion dictated that many rural Chinese families essentially gave away their female infants because the government limited them to only one child, and the Chinese preferred boys. While this was often the case, reports that government officials were snatching babies to make money in the lucrative adoption market began to surface. With more of these reports coming out, Demick went to investigate.