This is a very sad story about a little girl in China but it does have a happy ending, I promise. A British photo agency, Rex Features, discovered a beautiful little 6-year-old girl in China whose body is covered in thick black hair. At least 70 percent of her body is covered, including most of her back, one arm, and the entire side of her face. The girl appears to suffer from hypertrichosis, or "werewolf syndrome." And because of her strange appearance, the little girl was dropped off at a local nursery as a baby by her parents, who then never returned.
The nursery put an ad in the paper, begging for relatives of the little girl to come forward and help. And guess what? A relative DID come forward and decided to raise her. And the relative is ... A MAN. I don't know, when I was reading this, I just expected it would be a female relative. But nope, it was the grandfather of one of the girl's cousins. Imagine being a man in China -- where people still routinely abort and abandon female babies -- and coming forward to not only take care of a little girl, but a girl who has hair growing all over her body. I just love this grandfather. By the way, he's only 48.
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The grandfather also sends the girl, Liu Mingying, to school. He says he wants to keep doing so, but is starting to become worried about her being bullied. Kids have already nicknamed her "The Little Monkey." Unfortunately, there is no cure for this disease, though the hair can be reduced with treatments.
The media, as well as life, is so often filled with stories of men not stepping up to care for their children, or who care for them improperly, that it was heartwarming to read about a man who stepped up and cared when no one else would.
Were you surprised that a male relative stepped up?
Image via Macinate/Flickr
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Comments 85
my gosh... you people are crazy. Stuff happens all the time, committed by BOTH men and women alike. I like how some of you defended women who committed crimes themselves, and pointing fingers at men in their lives as being the cause of it. I'm surprised men don't blame women for the crimes they commit. Funny how that works. Women always like to play victim when they do something, and people like to go along with that.
As of now, there is no way to tell what the grandfather's motives are for adopting the girl. I'd love for there to be a happily ever after, just to prove you guys wrong that there isn't always a sinister reason for this kind of thing. Now say... if this happened in the US, would you all still preach doomsday for the girl's fate? Or is it because this is in China that you expect the worst?
and Lord K, I don't know what rock you came out from under, but while you don't think there's any beautiful Chinese women, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist. I myself am a Chinese woman, but sadly I don't have the beauty that Chinese women can be famed for.
go grandpa!!!!
Making this about gender is just cheap and dirty,and pretty music sets the mood for the comments to follow..Ignorance and bias ahoy!
"Men aren't that compassionate towards children." Any sweeping generalization like that is instantly incorrect as you cannot say ALL men or Women are one thing.It's much more probablt that you have the narrow mind
I'm not surprised. My grandchildren were in their teens before they suddenly realized that my hubby isn't actually related to them. It still seems to them that it can't be right, even though they do know their biological grandfather. Although he has "me" to do the grunt work (changing diapers, reading stories, swimming) when we watch the kids ... he's the one that makes sure everything is in place (fridge full, life vests available, and even clean dishes if I get at them too slowly).
And while I might wish to take care of a grandchild with this one's problems, it's my hubby that would make sure it was possible and would be most on top of problems that needed to be dealt with. So I don't guess I think it's particularly "awesome" that it was a MAN who took the child in. I just think it's awesome that someone did, and that she's loved.