This summer, the government of the Chinese province of Yunnan launched a campaign against surrogacy. This practice is illegal in China but “the sector is flourishing in this most populated country in the world where studies suggest that fertility problems affect one in eight couples”. China currently has “approximately 1,000 intermediaries and around ten thousand surrogacy births each year”.
This campaign will last six months and is aimed at “detecting and penalising health care professionals and intermediate agencies that support surrogacy services”. The aim of the Provincial Health and Family Planning Committee is also to penalise media sources advertising surrogacy on the Internet, television and in the press. In addition, “the sale and circulation of medication and equipment for MAP (medically assisted pregnancies)” will be tightened.
Xinhuanet (24/07/2015)