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Chen Guifang feels embar- that time. I couldn’t get pregnant, ger to pick the sex of their babies.
rassed to be regarded as the grand- and I could not stand it if my new- They have to wait for about two
Surrogacy: whenever picking them up from give birth,” Chen says. children.
mother of her six-year-old twins born child was a girl even if I could years to have their own surrogate

kindergarten.
“It is annoying to be recognised
as their grandmother by other par-
ents… I try to think of it in a funny
way. After all, I chose to give birth
A Bright Future or a to these two boys to satisfy my hus-
band. I’m happy with my life now,”
the 55-year-old woman living in
Fujian, China says with a smile. The health center where the
Regretful Decision consultation room is located

“Most of them are couples over
40 years old. Time is not a big issue
as they have been waiting so long
because of the one-child policy.
Chen’s husband, holding his They can be really picky in cus-
sons (Photo courtesy of Chen) tomising a perfect boy, instead of

The surrogate mother rushing to start the process,” Peng
holding a newborn child The surrogacy agency Chen says.
found offers a full range of servic- He adds that compared to oth-
Like many Chinese, Chen and es at a cost of RMB ¥600,000 (US er agencies in China, his agency
her husband are bound by tra- $84274), from body examinations charges a higher price because
ditional values that having a son to taking the baby home. An ex- their clients are ensured that the
is important in family inherit- tra RMB ¥100,000 (US $14046) is eggs and sperm come from the ex-
ance. Due to their old age, they needed for the household registra- act person they choose, and they
decided to have children through tion of the baby, the permit that al- will try to make sure the babies are
surrogates. Introduced to a sur- lows access to schools, homes, civil healthy with the sex the clients de-
rogacy agency by her friends, the service jobs, public health care and sire.
family used the husband’s sperm almost every aspect of daily life in “It is an advantage of our agen-
and a donor’s egg to have their China. cy. In the mainland, the informa-
sons through a surrogacy agent in Similar to other surrogacy agen- tion about embryonic genes is not
Guangdong, China. cies in China, the one Chen visited available. My customers always
By Ivonne Deng According to a paper issued in is an underground one, which is want to make sure the baby has the
the Science Journal Nature, there hidden inside a “health research genes they want, not worrying if it
Desperate old couples in China were more than 400 surrogacy centre” in Guangdong. It has its is being replaced by other genes,”
are hiring surrogate mothers to agencies in China that facilitated own secret lab, a group of surro- he says, adding that the agency will
the births of over 10,000 surrogate gate mothers, and doctors from send the embryo to Hong Kong for

give birth to babies. children each year between 2014 top hospitals for the treatments. examination.
and 2019. Peng Weitian, the consultant of He admits that it is not possi-
“I am worried about the ethi- the Shenzhen branch of this agen- ble to ensure a 100 per cent suc-
cal and legal risks, but my husband cy, points out that most of the cus- cess. Once health problems are
and I desperately wanted a boy at tomers are old couples who are ea- found, the customer can restart