Vietnam once ranked as having the highest abortion rate in the world.  Mr Tong does not only take in unwanted children, he also provides food and shelter to unwed pregnant mothers disowned by their families.

After delivery, the mothers can leave their babies with Mr Tong.  They can always come back for their children once they are able and ready to raise them.

A short walk from the orphanage, we visited 5 young mothers and their infants who are currently under Mr Tong’s care.  One baby girl (not in the photo) is born premature.  It’s been 3 weeks and the mother has not yet registered the baby for lack of money to do so.

Mr Tong’s niece was explaining to us how important it is in Vietnam for the child to have a name and be registered so Pres and I decided to give the unwed mothers some money so they could register their babies.

A month after, when we checked with Mr Tong, he informed us that the babies remain to be unnamed and unregistered.  Sadly, the unwed mothers did a runner with the money intended for their babies’ registration and had left their infants under Mr Tong’s care.

I certainly supported a woman’s right to choose, but to my mind the time to choose was before, not after the fact. – Ann B. Ross