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Internet sites: Surrogate mothers wanted
By Yu Nan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2006-04-05 09:55 Recently, some private websites have openly posted
advertisements seeking young women, especially college students, to become
surrogate mothers. They offer payment of up to100, 000 Yuan (US$12,450).
The successful applicants are evaluated on their appearance and education
level with their scores linked to payment rates, reports the Guangzhou New
Express after a three-month-long investigation.
The newspaper's reporter
discovered that it's common for some private websites on chat sites like QQ, and
MSN to list voluntary surrogate mothers and information about special services
for people who are unable to have babies.
Driven by potentially huge
profits, websites that initially offered to help sterile women without charge
are now beginning to ask for payment for their services.
In January, a
reporter from Guangzhou New Express pretending to be a mother unable to have a
baby, made an anonymous call to the New Star website, a private Internet agency
known for its surrogate mother services.
A woman surnamed Chen responded
that all surrogate mothers on the rolls were required to be healthy and under 32
years old, without any history of genetic diseases or abortion.
"We
normally recommend artificial insemination," she told the reporter, "but
customers themselves should first find a suitable ovum from a surrogate mother
and go to a specialist hospital to complete the insemination process with
sperm."
Chen promised that customers would not suffer any physiological
losses while responding to the concern over the low rate of
pregnancy.
"Also, you will not involved into any financial trouble
whether you are successful or not," she added.
The reporter expressed
concerned about the possibility of a surrogate mother having sexual intercourse
with her husband if she was unable to become pregnant.
"Personally, I
don't approve of such actions. However, our company will not interfere with
customers' private affairs on the condition that all three sides agreed on the
issue," Chen replied.
However, Chen said that the website will not take
responsibility for any disagreement between surrogate mothers and customers
after the baby was born.
"We try our best to select surrogate mothers who
live near the customers and arrange two sides make a contract," she said, "We
also verify surrogates mothers' personal information and keep it
confidential."
Chen said that the contract is legal and again promised to
destroy customers' confidential records after their contract expired.
She
seemed to be aware of the reporter's intentions and rang off when the reporter
wanted to investigate further into the matter.
An unnamed lawyer says
that the surrogate mother service has already infringed on women's rights to
bear children from a legal point of view.
It has challenged mainstream
society's morality, and it may lead to practical problems including issues of
confused relations between relatives, inheritance rights and
fostering.
And babies born to surrogate mothers, who suffer congenital
diseases, may not have their rights and interests fully protected.
However, the 2001 regulations regarding assisted procreation technology
issued by China's Ministry of Health don't explicitly prohibit agencies like
these websites from providing surrogate mother services, the lawyer
added.
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