Every day in China, the words "It's a girl!" are received with sadness and disappointment, leading many Chinese couples to engage in gendercide: the act of eliminating girls by pre-natal sex selection, infanticide, abandonment and trafficking.

Community and family pressure to have a son, paired with China's One-Child Policy, form a lethal combination. For every 6 boys born in China, only 5 girls survive. Cumulatively, this has led to an excess of 37 million men in China. Girls are twice as likely to die in their first year of life than boys.

The Baby Shower Gift Program is bringing life, value and dignity to baby girls in China by showing their families that girls have value. Pregnant couples who enroll in this program receive a monthly stipend to support their baby girl through the first year of her life. All Girls Allowed workers keep families accountable to ensure that the stipend is used for the baby's nutrition, clothing, and shelter.

Profile of a Mother: Shen Hongmei

Although the birth of a girl didn't please her father-in-law, Shen Hongmei was still happy. When she received monthly assistance from the Baby Shower Gift Program, she said she was remarkably "the envy of the village" for having a baby girl. She said, “In my mind, if I am to have a second one, and if the second one is a girl, I would still have her. I don’t care what others say.”

What have changes have happened so far?

After just two years of working in some of China's most impoverished villages, we have seen gender gap lessen dramatically in these villages. Families are keeping girls. Some families who enrolled in the program now say that their neighbors are jealous of them for having girls.  Meanwhile, a professor who studied gendercide in Asia found that financial stipends are the best way to encourage families to keep girls. It looks like this program is on the right track! 

Sounds great, but I still have some questions.

Naturally! Here are answers to some frequently asked questions; if your question isn't covered, please contact us at info@allgirlsallowed.org.