Desperate old couples in China are hiring surrogate mothers to give birth to babies.
By Ivonne Deng
Chen Guifang feels embarrassed to be regarded as the grandmother of her six-year-old twins whenever picking them up from kindergarten.
“It is annoying to be recognised as their grandmother by other parents… I try to think of it in a funny way. After all, I chose to give birth to these two boys to satisfy my husband. I’m happy with my life now,” the 55-year-old woman living in Fujian, China says with a smile.
Like many Chinese, Chen and her husband are bound by traditional values that having a son is important in family inheritance. Due to their old age, they decided to have children through surrogates. Introduced to a surrogacy agency by her friends, the family used the husband’s sperm and a donor’s egg to have their sons through a surrogacy agent in Guangdong, China.
According to a paper issued in the Science Journal Nature, there were more than 400 surrogacy agencies in China that facilitated the births of over 10,000 surrogate children each year between 2014 and 2019.
“I am worried about the ethical and legal risks, but my husband and I desperately wanted a boy at that time. I couldn’t get pregnant, and I could not stand it if my newborn child was a girl even if I could give birth,” Chen says.
Chen’s husband, holding his sons (Photo courtesy of Chen)
The surrogacy agency Chen found offers a full range of services at a cost of RMB ¥600,000 (US $84274), from body examinations to taking the baby home. An extra RMB ¥100,000 (US $14046) is needed for the household registration of the baby, the permit that allows access to schools, homes, civil service jobs, public health care and almost every aspect of daily life in China.
Similar to other surrogacy agencies in China, the one Chen visited is an underground one, which is hidden inside a “health research centre” in Guangdong. It has its own secret lab, a group of surrogate mothers, and doctors from top hospitals for the treatments.
The health center where the consultation room is located
Peng Weitian, the consultant of the Shenzhen branch of this agency, points out that most of the customers are old couples who are eager to pick the sex of their babies. They have to wait for about two years to have their own surrogate children.
“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. They can be really picky in customising a perfect boy, instead of rushing to start the process,” Peng says.
He adds that compared to other agencies in China, his agency charges a higher price because their clients are ensured that the eggs and sperm come from the exact person they choose, and they will try to make sure the babies are healthy with the sex the clients desire.
“It is an advantage of our agency. In the mainland, the information about embryonic genes is not available. My customers always want to make sure the baby has the genes they want, not worrying if it is being replaced by other genes,” he says, adding that the agency will send the embryo to Hong Kong for examination.
He admits that it is not possible to ensure a 100 per cent success. Once health problems are found, the customer can restart the process without extra charge. Working in a grey legal market in China, Peng notes that the separate responsibilities make the agency hard to be caught. “The only thing that cannot be found is our lab,” Peng says.
Six years after bringing back her twin sons home from the agency, Chen’s family has mixed feelings about having them via surrogacy. “I took a big risk to customise two lives. My husband thinks it’s worth it. For me, sometimes I’m happy, sometimes I have to brainwash myself,” the mother says.
Chen has two daughters that she gave birth to on her own and feels proud of. The elder one is 36 years old and is working in the US now, whilst the younger one, a 19-year-old, is a bright student studying in Hong Kong.
“The twins are much more naughty and silly than my daughters, so we spend much more money on them than my daughters… raising them is harder than I thought,” She admits.
Chen’s twin sons, celebrating birthday (Photo courtesy of Chen)
Chen adds that the family has to buy a new home in a district with reputable primary schools to secure a spot for the sons, which puts the family under financial strain as her husband is the only main source of income.
Her daughters refuse to give any support to their brothers. “My second daughter has quarrelled with me many times. She is angry that I exploited other women for sons,” Chen says.
“But I have no choice now. I have to raise them because of all the risks I have taken, and the responsibility as a mother,” she says.
Edited by Alexia Leung
Sub-edited by Myo Min Htin
