A Vietnamese man has both lost his job and his membership in the ruling communist party for fathering four children. It was called ‘a sabotage’ of the state’s effort to control birth rates.

Having a daughter was a life-long dream for Nguyen Van Van, who served as deputy police chief in the Chau Thanh region of the Long An Province. Nature, however, had other ideas, and his wife only gave him sons, reports Itar-Tass news agency.

After the birth of the third child Nguyen was warned to stop by local authorities. Vietnam’s government is trying to curb birth rates in the country, and state officials and communist party members – of which the relentless father was both – are banned from having more than two children.

Still the man didn’t stop in his pursuit for a daughter, and eventually his efforts were rewarded and his wife gave birth to a girl. Nguyen’s dream, however, came at a great cost, as he was expelled from the communist party and fired from the police for ‘sabotaging’ state policy.

XL Report: Vietnam. Back on the Map