She is having our baby

• Source: Global Times
• [01:04 July 21 2010]
• Comments

Hyped claims

Some agencies have made attractive claims to lure customers.

Sun, the Beijing agent, said clients can choose the sex of babies if they pay an extra 45,000 yuan ($6,641) to the hospital and doctors will also attempt to prevent genetic diseases with the latest test-tube technology.

However, experts warned that the industry could be breaking the law.

Chen Zhenwen, director of the only approved human sperm bank in Beijing, told the Global Times that they do not accept foreigners looking for sperm, and foreigners are not allowed to donate sperm.

Chen, also the director of the reproduction medical center at the National Research Institution for Family Planning, said choosing the sex of test-tube babies is technologically possible, but illegal.

"Also, it is impossible to test for all inherited diseases before conducting the test-tube baby procedure," he said.

The Regulation on Assisted Reproductive Technology issued by the Ministry of Health in 2003 said that surrogate technology is forbidden and assisted reproductive technology should never be used on singe women or couples who violate regulations on family planning.

Also, donation of sperms or eggs should never be commercialized, according to the regulation.

"The government should target all the underground surrogate mother agencies and illegal test-tube baby operations to protect the order and moral on the use of assisted reproductive technology," said Chen.

Chai Guanhong, a Beijing-based lawyer, told the Global Times Tuesday that currently there is no specification mention in the criminal law about surrogate mothers in China.

"No criminal charges were mentioned about surrogate motherhood or about surrogate agents in the current criminal law and nobody will be accused if the baby was not used for human trafficking and each party in the surrogate contract obey their commitment," said Chai.

Chai added that surrogate agents are not subjected to any laws at present.

Jia Cheng contributed to this story