Sohrab's childhood virtually ended after both of his parents were murdered. He ended up in the orphanage, where he was found by Assef, the man who had raped his father when they were both kids. Assef, who was now a Talib, used his power to take Sohrab out of the orphanage and made him his sex slave. Eventually, Amir managed to get Sohrab out, adopt him, and bring him to the United States. However, everything Sohrab experienced resulted in lasting trauma, experiences he is unlikely to ever recover from fully. 

Aziza, on the other hand, was brought up by her loving mother, Laila, and lived with her throughout her childhood. She was also placed in the orphanage at some point, when Rasheed, Laila's husband, claimed he could no longer afford to keep her, but Laila visited her as often as she could manage. Rasheed did not ever act as Aziza's father (partially because she was a girl, and partially because he suspected all along that she was not, in fact, his), so she was not attached to him and his death was not a terrible blow. Eventually, due to Mariam's sacrifice, Aziza and Laila were reunited with Aziza's real father. All things considered, her childhood can be said to have been happier than Sohrab's.

The characters of Soraya and Laila have some similarities, but overall author Khalid Hosseini shows Soraya as having a happier life than Laila. Both women finally end up with the men they love and are warm, caring mothers. Laila in A Thousand Splendid Suns endures more hardships along the way than Soraya does in The Kite Runner. In particular, Laila is forced into an arranged marriage with an older man; she becomes the second wife of Rasheed, who physically abuses her as well as constantly exercises control over her and her children. Laila must also keep the secret that the father of the older child is actually Tariq. Laila finds the situation so intolerable that she tries to leave but is unsuccessful. Finally it is Mariam, the senior wife, who changes their lives by killing Rasheed when he attacks Laila again. Laila must always bear the memory of witnessing his death.

Soraya, although her father exerts authority over her, had managed to live independently for a short time before returning to her parents’ home in what they considered disgrace. Both her parents and Amir’s father exert pressure for the two young people to conduct a courtship according to traditional Afghan standards, although they all live in the United States. Her parents do not force her into an arranged marriage. Following their marriage, although the couple does not have their own biological child, they become the adoptive parents to Sohrab, Amir’s nephew.