Asian Heritage Month Film: "China's Lost Girls"

To curb the country’s exploding population, China limits most families to one child, or in certain circumstances, two children. Due to cultural, social, and economic factors, traditional preference leans toward boys, so girls are often hidden, aborted, or abandoned. As a result, thousands of girls end up in orphanages across China.

Today, about 80,000 girls have been adopted from China into American families in the past quarter-century. National Geographic and Lisa Ling join some of these families as they travel to China to meet their new daughters for the first time. Along this emotional journey, Lisa Ling shares in the joy of these growing families and also witnesses first hand China’s gender gap, examines its roots, and discusses its possible repercussions.