Rich Chinese seek American surrogate mothers (2)

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Rich Chinese seek American surrogate mothers (2)

(China.org.cn) 08:55, October 31, 2013

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After Jiang and the agency signed a contract, they went on to go through a series of procedures, offering an embryo, and implanting it in the mother's womb. They also decide they wanted a boy, as the gender of the child can be determined through screening.

The couple flew to the U.S when the mother was about to give birth, and later took the baby back to China.

Children like Binbin are often called "American Babies" on line: their parents are Chinese but they are born in the U.S and brought back to China immediately after their birth.

All for the sake of U.S nationality

"American Babies" are granted American nationality after their birth, which is the primary motive for some of the Chinese seeking American surrogacy. An American citizen over 21 years old can apply for a Green Card for their parents, making it possible for the entire family to emigrate.

The head of a Boston surrogacy agency said that almost all of their customers are in pursuit of American nationality, while another agency in San Diego said 40% of their 140 customers came from China in 2011.

Besides surrogacy, many more Chinese are choosing to give birth in the States. It might cost 120,000 yuan to 200,000 yuan (about US$20,000 to US$33,000) to do so, but the fines for having more than one child in cities like Beijing under China's one child policy could be even higher.

Risks

While the state of California has a comprehensive legal system to deal with surrogacy, the legal framework in other states may not be so advanced.

Quite apart from legal issues, surrogacy also involves considerable risk, as the operation requires sophisticated medical techniques. "Some agencies do not have any professionals on hand. They outsource operations after accepting clients, who have no idea about the risks," an insider revealed.