A mother of 80 orphans

Li Yanping, a 45-year-old mother of 80 orphans picks up some of her children from school in Yaopu village, North China's Shanxi province, March 19, 2011. Li adopted her first child in 1989 after her husband brought a deserted baby home. They had to give up their new-born son for adoption as they could not afford to raise two babies at the same time, which resulted in a lot of criticism from their relatives. Since then, many abandoned babies have been left in front of her house, and local civil affairs departments have arranged orphans to be cared for by Li's family, giving them appropriate subsidies. Li has adopted more than 80 orphans in 22 years. She has been raising them by herself since her husband passed away seven years ago. [Photo/Xinhua]

Li washes clothes with some of her children around her, March 19, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]