Investigation underway after discovery of illegal surrogacy ring in China

A village in China is at the center of an illegal surrogacy investigation for allegedly exploiting women to carry children for other women. The surrogacy ring was exposed in May by an anti-trafficking activist.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• A surrogacy ring was discovered in a China province in May, with nine women (surrogates and egg donors) found inside a three-story residential facility.

• The building was equipped with multiple hospital beds, patient rooms, and a laboratory.

• Eighteen people have been arrested, including an anesthesiologist and a nurse.

• While surrogacy is not legal in China, underground surrogacy rings are common.

THE DETAILS:

On May 12, anti-trafficking activist Shangguan Zhengyi alerted authorities to a potential illegal surrogacy ring in Changsha, Hunan province. Shangguan, who has 424,000 followers on social media, had spent several days monitoring a three-story residential building there, and when police arrived, they discovered 16 hospital beds, a laboratory, patient rooms, and a fully-equipped operating theater.

The operating room was stocked with medical tools and equipment, including those used for egg retrieval and embryo transfer. Outside, there were several cars, including an unlicensed white van that authorities believe was used to transport the women.

Nine women, including surrogate mothers and egg donors, were found inside the building. They were taken to the Changsha Women and Children Health Care Hospital for medical assessment and were later released into the care of government officials and their families.

One of the surrogates was a 41-year-old deaf woman who used sign language to tell Shangguan that she was paid 280,000 yuan ($39,000) to undergo an embryo transfer. She had been brought to the facility by intermediaries, but she did not know how long she had been there.

A 29-year-old woman from the Yi ethnic minority told authorities that she was paid 190,000 yuan ($26,000) to undergo an embryo transfer.

Eighteen people were detained regarding the scheme, including a person said to be in charge, an anesthesiologist, and a nurse from a private hospital. The building has been shut down.

THE CONTEXT:

Surrogacy exploitation cases have arisen around the world, as the surrogacy industry thrives on using underprivileged women to carry children for elite couples. Surrogates are often mistreated and dehumanized, even in high-profile surrogate cases in the United States.

“Many women who opted to become surrogates say that the conditions for them are terrible. They are sometimes forced to share a bed with another surrogate mother. Most of the women come from small villages and are in hopeless situations. They spend the first few weeks lying around, crying,” the Times reported.

“Women are sometimes not paid promised amounts or are housed in terrible conditions during the later stages of their pregnancies,” the outlet continued. “In some cases, parents have discovered they have no genetic link with children born to surrogates. … The highly profitable and murky business, that many worry is taking advantage of desperate young women and operating in a grey zone open to abuse.”

There are no laws in China forbidding women from becoming surrogates, but surrogacy itself is not legal there. However, underground surrogacy rings are common in the country, with an estimated 10,000 babies born annually through surrogacy.

GO DEEPER:

Read more below about surrogacy and illegal surrogacy rings.

Undercover Report: Illegal Chinese surrogacy ring exposed

Illegal surrogacy ring busted in Thailand

Illegal surrogacy ring in Thailand caught trafficking babies to China

Surrogacy’s pitfalls: Heartbreaking stories of child abandonment