Abstract
Culturally, commercial surrogacy has come to be viewed and criticized as immoral. Thus, many prefer it to be outlawed in China. At the same time, “to carry on the bloodline of the family” and having more children are also culturally celebrated in Chinese society.  The two cultural traditions, together with the implementation and gradual revocation of the one-child policy in the 21st century, have led to a dilemma modern Chinese parents are facing: more and more couples feel morally obligated to have more children after the revocation of the one-child policy but are too old to naturally reproduce. With the vagueness of regulations around commercial surrogacy in China, more couples have resorted to surrogacy in the past decade, which currently functions in a grey market. Within the unregulated market, both moral and legal concerns emerge. Through analysis of public opinion, litigations, as well as court rulings on surrogacy in China, this paper asks the following question: To what extent does the societal attitude in China on surrogacy align with that of litigations and court rulings on surrogacy in China? This paper hopes to provide insight into the Chinese surrogacy markets and responses from different actors within the process of surrogacy, leading to broader questions such as: How can litigations in China on surrogacy be improved? How can we ensure rights of all actors in a transaction concerning surrogacy? Should surrogacy be permissible at all? These are relevant questions relating to the structural violence prevalent in the seemingly peaceful modern China and have an impact on the direction of future feminist studies.
Highlights
The way children can enter a family has radically changed with the development of technology
This paper focuses on the Chinese surrogacy market, the relevant legislation and court practices, as well as public opinions around surrogacy to provide an overview of surrogacy in China
Public opinion in China complies with the litigations and court rulings; in practice, surrogacy still serves as an option for reproduction with a booming underground market, while surrogate mothers are largely under-represented by the media and academic researchers
Summary
The way children can enter a family has radically changed with the development of technology. This paper focuses on the Chinese surrogacy market, the relevant legislation and court practices, as well as public opinions around surrogacy to provide an overview of surrogacy in China. This paper will show that litigations on surrogacy in China mostly condemn surrogacy as immoral, but the regulations are vague Due to this vagueness, court rulings usually defer to contract laws and genetic relationships. Public opinion in China complies with the litigations and court rulings; in practice, surrogacy still serves as an option for reproduction with a booming underground market, while surrogate mothers are largely under-represented by the media and academic researchers. Though litigations and court rulings are against surrogacy as a whole, it is worth noting that the current surrogacy legislation is ineffective, providing incentive for surrogacy companies to operate and develop
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
