Chinese surrogacy firms lie low after celebrity scandal
Chinese surrogacy firms have appeared to be treading more carefully amid heightened scrutiny after a celebrity was accused of abandoning her surrogate children.
A surrogacy firm told an undercover Apple Daily journalist that local surrogacy services would only be available after Chinese New Year, the first day of which falls on Feb. 12. The employee told the journalist that the delay was due to the increased sensitivity surrounding the topic.
The firm, Xiangyin, referred the journalist — pretending to be a potential customer on messaging app WeChat— to a consultant at a fertility hospital. The journalist was told that an overseas surrogate would cost 400,000 yuan (US$61,720) while a local surrogate would set her back 450,000 yuan.
For 500,000 yuan, the baby’s birth would be guaranteed and other risks would be eliminated. Parents would have a choice of the baby’s gender if they paid an extra 100,000 yuan.
The firm was evasive when asked if it would be illegal to find a surrogate mother in China. But after being pressed, it said a local surrogate could only be found after Chinese New Year.
Surrogacy is illegal in China and has come under further scrutiny after actress Zheng Shaung was accused of abandoning her two surrogate babies in the United States after splitting with boyfriend Zhang Heng.
A woman, who only identified herself as Junjun, told Chinese media that she wanted to look for a surrogate mother because she worried that pregnancy would affect her career.
“The point of surrogacy is to save time,” said Junjun, who is originally from mainland China but now lives in Hong Kong.
“I don’t want to go to America because the wait would be for months. Then it’s not that different from carrying the baby myself.”
Hong Kong obstetrician Dr. Kun Ka-yan said there had been mainland Chinese women looking for surrogates in the city. One wanted to have another child despite having undergone sterilization, and another suffered a problem in her womb, preventing her from getting pregnant, he said.
Surrogacy falls into a legal gray area in Hong Kong, with commercial ones being illegal. In the end, the women looked for surrogate mothers overseas, Kun said.
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