Of course they realized what the outcome would be. It was a sacrifice they decided to make to avoid an otherwise unavoidable population explosion.

It's a radical policy by western standards, but difficult to replace with any other real solutions in a part of the world that has memories of starvation.

As long as we're stuck on this planet, the human race has got to curb it's natural inclinations and stop pumpin' out babies faster than the earth can provide for them.