China’s fertility treatment rules push single women to Hong Kong

The initial trip Sophia manufactured right after Beijing reopened its borders this yr was to a clinic in Hong Kong to freeze her eggs. The treatment, alongside with other fertility treatments, is only available in mainland China to married gals.

“During the lockdowns, I felt incredibly lonely for the 1st time in my lifestyle. I realised I may possibly be single permanently and needed to program my lifestyle. Even if I don’t locate a associate, I am confident I want to have a youngster,” mentioned the 34-calendar year-aged tech employee from Shenzhen, a single of numerous women to head to a clinic in the Chinese territory in look for of fertility treatment method.

China faces a bleak demographic outlook as the functioning-age populace shrinks and the selection of retirees balloons. Past year, the country’s whole headcount fell by 850,000 men and women to 1.41bn as fatalities outstripped births for the 1st time, a craze that has pushed policymakers to introduce steps to raise fertility these kinds of as dollars handouts for partners with far more than a person little one.

Some argue that bigger entry to fertility treatment options, these as egg freezing and in vitro fertilisation (IVF), could raise the delivery charge by enabling older gals to have little ones.

But Beijing has long banned access to egg freezing or IVF for single ladies. Though unmarried males can freeze their sperm, single females these as Sophia, who declined to give her surname, are not permitted to freeze their eggs.

During this month’s assembly of the country’s top rated policymakers, a person delegate, a gynaecologist, prompt changing the rule, but the proposal is not envisioned to obtain traction.

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Single mothers have extensive been stigmatised in Chinese society and by a communist occasion eager to boost the nuclear household. Right up until not too long ago, solitary moms were not able to contain their little ones in their household registration, a crucial move to unlocking accessibility to rewards.

China’s leading overall health formal has said egg freezing results in an incentive to delay being pregnant, arguing for proscribing accessibility to the procedure. “Allowing one gals to freeze their eggs could delay the reproductive age, which is not very good for the overall health of the female or offspring,” explained the National Well being Commission (NHC) in reaction to calls for the method to be made obtainable for unmarried gals.

But health care industry experts cite other variables, such as the desire to pursue education or qualified objectives or satisfy an correct husband or wife, and reject the strategy that ladies who freeze their eggs delay being pregnant.

“There isn’t any evidence to display that women of all ages delay getting small children due to the fact of the availability of egg freezing. They hold off pregnancy for socio-financial and psychological good reasons,” explained Lucy Lord, an obstetrician and gynaecologist dependent in Hong Kong.

An official at the Guangdong office environment of the NHC reported legalising egg freezing for one ladies would be “difficult for the government” due to the fact it “subverts classic principles on fertility and relatives structure”.

As a outcome, additional and additional Chinese women of all ages travel overseas for the treatment, with Hong Kong a prime desired destination offered its proximity and powerful health care system.

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The Instagram-like Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu is loaded with tips for the finest clinics in the metropolis. There are about 20 licensed fertility clinics in Hong Kong.

1 administrator at a Hong Kong fertility clinic focusing on mainland purchasers said they had viewed a surge in demand just after Beijing get rid of its border controls. Appointments are booked for upcoming thirty day period, and the administrator explained the “wait could be even for a longer period as we’re observing an uptick in appointments”.

Hong Kong fertility clinics charge between HK$80,000 and HK$100,000 (US$10,000-US$13,000) for one spherical of egg freezing. IVF achievement premiums range extensively in accordance to age. About just one-3rd of girls under the age of 35 come to be pregnant after IVF, according to British isles figures. Lord extra that egg freezing was not a “fail-safe and sound option” given that it is “more challenging to get pregnant with a frozen egg”.

Although it is achievable for solitary or homosexual women of all ages to freeze their eggs in Hong Kong, only married heterosexual partners can obtain IVF cure. In apply, that usually means eggs are stored right up until gals get married and commence the IVF system.

For some, a further barrier to cure is the price of travelling to Hong Kong. Si Ma, an office employee in her mid-30s in Chengdu, opted to go through the initial phases of IVF treatment at an illegal “underground clinic” preferred with the city’s queer local community.

Si Ma, who is bisexual, was introduced to the clinic by a close friend. “This is illegal for solitary folks like me,” she explained. “There are tons of LGBT men and women who change to underground clinics or go overseas. The market is much bigger than I assumed.”

Lü Pin, a Chinese feminist activist based in New York, is sceptical that China’s coverage will improve, expressing there is an ingrained resistance versus providing ladies “reproductive autonomy”. “This plan is finally about controlling women’s bodies,” she mentioned.

Supplemental reporting by Xueqiao Wang in Shanghai