CHINA will consider ramping up support for more families whose only child died, ranging from providing special elderly care and medical services to facilitating their access to assisted reproductive tools and child adoption, according to a report by ThePaper.cn on Monday.

A group of families who had lost their only child but had another child later recently submitted a letter to the National Health Commission and met with health officials in Beijing to seek support.

The letter called on authorities to include families like them in assistance programs and roll out targeted, favorable policies regarding elderly care, medical services and household registration, as well as nursery care and education for their second children.

China rolled out an exclusive assistance program for families whose only child had died or has disabilities in 2007. But the program excludes those who have had another biological child or adopted one.

The letter also called for measures to help families who want to have another child after losing their first one to realize their dream.

In its reply to the letter, the commission said it will work with relevant departments to further research the possibility of rolling out a range of policies to support families who have had another child.

The commission also noted that eight provincial-level regions have already made some assisted reproductive therapies and medications reimbursable.

However, the commission also reiterated that families who have lost an only child but have another later are not eligible for subsidies from the assistance program.

China began implementing a family planning policy that allowed most families to have only one child in 1979. The policy has been gradually adjusted over the years.

The plight of families who have lost a single child has been drawing attention from the public and national legislators in recent years.

A study led by researchers from Capital Normal University and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences estimated that there are nearly 2.9 million women age 50 or older who have had children who died.

The study suggested encouraging births by boosting nursery care services and other measures aimed at reducing childbearing costs.

It also suggested upgrading support for families who have lost an only child, such as offering psychological consultations and formulating elderly care insurance policies.(China Daily)