In China, “shidu” — literally “loss of only” — describes parents whose sole child has died. Beyond grief, the bereaved also face the collapse of the traditional family structure that promised emotional and financial support in old age. Many are past childbearing age and unable to have another child.
When photographer Wu Fang first began documenting shidu families, estimates from the 2010 China Health Statistics Yearbook, released by the former Ministry of Health, suggested there were 841,000 nationwide, with the number growing by roughly 76,000 each year. Some media reports, citing the same yearbook, placed the figure at more than 1 million.