Maternal Sentiments: How Strong Are They?

It has long been assumed, by scientists and laymen alike, that mothers naturally bond with their children and find it painful to part with them if forced to do so. This assumption is challenged here with evidence showing that in Taiwan women willingly gave away the great majority of their daughters as infants or small children. They did so as part of a strategy for securing their own future, but they were not compelled to so by poverty or by their mothersinlaw. Under certain conditions the probability that a daughter would be given away exceeded .9.