Parents who lost children in the devastating May 12, 2008 earthquake are getting back happy life as their new babies are born, Sichuan provincial population authorities said Friday.

More than 2,800 mothers, many of whom still mourning their late children, have become pregnant and 1,662 of them had given birth to their babies by the end of 2009, said Wang Zaiyin, head of Sichuan Provincial Population and Family Planning Commission.

In July 2008, the standing committee of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress adopted a rule to allow a family who lost an only child, or in which the child was disabled, or a family with two children who were both disabled in the disaster, to have another child.

Free reproductive service and other medical supports are provided for the parents.

More than 8,000 Sichuan families lost their only child in the earthquake, which left more than 87,000 dead or missing in May 2008.