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Single Chinese woman sues over egg freezing
BEIJING, Dec 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A single woman in China has gone to
court challenging rules that forbid unmarried women from freezing their eggs
in the first case of its kind in the country.
Teresa Xu said she was prompted to take legal action after a top hospital
in Beijing declined to freeze her eggs last year, and instead told her to
“get married, and have a child soon”.
“There is a huge demand among young women in China — whether married or
single — to freeze their eggs as they delay the decision to have a child,”
Xu told AFP.
“But clinics refuse single women, because of unfair laws.”
Chinese regulations forbid unmarried women from freezing their eggs unless
they have a health reason, such as cancer.
A Beijing court on Monday agreed to hear Xu’s case against the hospital,
nearly six months after it was filed.
The 31-year old, who works as a freelance editor, said she had also
written to a member of China’s parliament, hoping that the issue of
reproductive restrictions faced by unmarried women could be raised when the
legislature meets in March.
Unmarried women in China are also largely barred from accessing assisted
reproductive technologies including in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment or
sperm banks.
The restrictions hark back to a time when the Communist party attempted to
strictly control population growth with its one-child policy.
The Chinese government has attempted to boost birth rates in recent years,
allowing all couples to have two children from 2016, but single mothers still
face discrimination and legal hurdles when attempting to register a birth.
– ‘Immense pressure’ –
Xu said many of her peers were postponing marriage and seeking options
abroad to freeze their eggs. “Many women in their 30s are under immense
pressure to get married and have a child. But many don’t want to do so
because they are afraid their careers will stagnate or (they will) face
discrimination in the workplace,” she said.
“It costs about 100,000 yuan ($14,000) in Thailand and about 200,000 in the
US, compared to just 20,000 yuan if done in China.”
The marriage rate in China has been in decline over the last five years,
and the country is grappling with one of the lowest fertility rates in the
world.
Monday’s closed-door hearing lasted for about an hour, according to a
statement on the official social media account of Beijing Chaoyang People’s
Court.
Xu said the next hearing will be in January, although a date hasn’t been
announced.
“I am still hopeful about this case,” she said. “Even if I lose I feel the
process is more important than the result.”
Xu said she hasn’t decided to have a child or get married.
“I don’t want to have a child for the time being, but I will think about it
in the future,” she said.
“I just hope that I leave myself the right to choose.”
BSS/AFP/RY/1615 hrs