Grieving over the loss of a beloved child is a universal sentiment worldwide. Nevertheless, cultural and sociopolitical factors may shape how parental grief is differentially experienced. When China replaced the one-child mandate with a two-child policy in 2015, one unintended consequence of the one-child policy became even more apparent. A large number of parents have lost their only child born under the policy to illness, accident, or suicide. Referred to as shidu families (shidu jiating) in official documents, media reports, and by bereaved parents themselves, the majority of these families are unable to have another child due to age. As Chinese society is becoming increasingly child-centered, coping with child loss is particularly challenging for shidu parents. Based on in-depth interviews with shidu parents between 2016 and 2019, the talk delves into the grief experience of shidu parents, revealing how they make sense of their loss after having practiced the child-centered ideal, how child loss redefines their personhood in a child-centered society, and how they cope with child loss as they continue to live in a child-centered environment.