Wombs for hire

By Wen Ya Source:Global Times Published: 2013-3-19 23:38:02

Officers investigate a woman suspected of being involved in illegal reproductive services in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province on October 16, 2012. Photo: CFP
Officers investigate a woman suspected of being involved in illegal reproductive services in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province on October 16, 2012. Photo: CFP

 

 

Several months ago, 36-year-old Lü Jinfeng, who once claimed to be the "founding father" of China's surrogacy industry, quit his job because the government was making life tough for those in the business.

"I felt more pressure and was always tired. Working in the industry means bearing more risks," Lü told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Lü entered the industry from a foreign firm by accident in 2004. That year, his pregnant wife was studying pregnancy and discovered a term called "surrogacy." "Pushed by curiosity, I decided to quit my job and attempt to enter the industry," he said.

He worked predominantly in Wuhan, Hubei Province, but his career ended five months before the Ministry of Health announced on March 12 that it would crack down on illegal assisted-reproduction methods including surrogacy.

An official from the ministry said that the experts they consulted had told them that surrogacy causes serious ethical and legal problems that could disrupt social order and possibly hurt surrogate mothers and their babies, people.com.cn reported last Wednesday.

Criminal pregnancies

The crackdown, which started on February 5, will last one year. During this time the public, as well as medical professionals are being encouraged to report illegal cases, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

It's not the first time the ministry has banned surrogacy. In 2001 it issued regulations to this effect.

Echoing the ministry, medical authorities throughout the country including those in Anhui, Shaanxi, Hebei and Fujian provinces issued similar announcements.

In Fujian Province, local health authorities said a real-name registration system would be established for infertile couples who attempted to access these kinds of treatments, fjsen.com reported on Monday.

However, Lü pointed out that despite the crackdown, the number of practitioners offering these services is actually growing.

This year alone, there was an increase of more than 10 medical institutions - including both State-owned and private hospitals - who provided surrogacy medical services, Lü said, while refusing to give any details.

By the end of 2012, only 358 medical institutions were certified as able to provide assisted reproductive technology and 17 institutions were allowed to run human sperm banks, according to the Legal Mirror.

The fact that the surrogacy market exists in China proves there is demand, Xu   Xiaoyang, a professor with Chongqing Medical University, told the Global Times. Couples who can't give birth for various reasons usually turn to surrogacy, Xu said.

A growing market

Infertile couples account for 7 percent of couples of child-bearing age, and each year that increases by 20 percent. In Beijing, more than 20,000 infertile couples received in-vitro fertilization or egg transfers in 2012, the Legal Mirror reported.

Lü said his former company had strict policies. They only used in-vitro fertilization or egg transfers, not "natural conceptions" in which a client paid to have sex with a woman to get her pregnant, because these meant that "in terms of genetics, the mother in the couple and her baby would have no blood ties," Lü said.

His clients were mainly rich infertile couples from big cities. The rest included older couples whose only child had passed away, people who wanted to have one more child and homosexual couples. He said that in cases where proper medical services were provided, around 50 percent of the surrogate pregnancies resulted in a successful birth.

It often takes one year to finish a successful surrogacy. The fees clients are charged range from 380,000 yuan ($61,142) to 600,000 yuan according to different services, said Lü, who refused to say how the money was divided between surrogate mothers and medical institutions. He also refused to name the hospitals that had cooperated with him.

There aren't many requirements for surrogate mothers. Women aged from 22 to 32 who are in good health and have a positive disposition can apply to be surrogate mothers, but usually women who had already given birth were preferred, according to Lü.

About 90 percent of his clients are introduced through acquaintances and 10 percent are found through the Internet, he said.

In a recent case related to surrogacy in Sheqi county, Henan Province, four suspects were arrested for cheating 50 men out of 1 million yuan and the case is still under investigation, the Henan Legal Daily reported Monday.

"I hope this industry could become legal so it becomes more orderly," Lü said.

Eggs in one basket

Ren Jue, a doctoral candidate in gender studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told the Global Times that she went undercover to apply to be a surrogate mother in Wuhan, Hubei Province in September, 2011.

Ren was told she was unqualified after she stayed at the agency for a couple of days. During this period, Ren learned that different package services including natural conception were offered to clients, and they could even choose the genders of their future babies.

In addition, she got to know several surrogate mothers. One of them came from a poor rural family and was almost illiterate.

A surrogate mother could be paid 130,000 yuan in installments. Mothers would be accommodated in a comfortable apartment during their pregnancy, according to Ren.

"Their accommodation and food are paid for by the agency," Ren said. "To women without much ability to make money, the industry could help them earn money easily. These women were working as surrogate mothers out of their own will."

If the mothers had to go through an abortion, they would be compensated 10,000 yuan to 20,000 yuan, Ren said.

"Surrogacy will influence the surrogate mothers' health. Sometimes, it's very dangerous if the mother doesn't pay attention to nutritional needs," Xu said.

"Mothers have natural emotion toward the children they gave birth to. Some mothers may renege on the agreements they signed. These can easily cause financial and ethical disputes," she said.

Surrogacy is legal in some states of the US, India, Malaysia and some other foreign countries. The industry should be legal in China as there are large groups who have no other choices when it comes to having children, Wang Zhenyu, a law researcher with the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times.

"Banning surrogacy is a way for the authorities to shy away from their responsibilities. Fulfilling those responsibilities would, however, cause complex social issues. Our country should face the issue and make laws to regulate and guide the industry."

However, Ren said she was concerned that if surrogacy became legal, the surrogate agencies would require more qualifications and as a result, "the associated costs would be transferred to surrogate mothers and they would earn less money compared to before."



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