Since a Chinese actress stated that she had her eggs frozen in the United States, an online discussion has erupted in Mainland China about the legality of single women freezing their eggs. Famous writer Han Han responds on Weibo: “Why are women not allowed to use their own eggs?”
“Manya, perhaps you should write about this,” my Beijing friend Lily texts me on Weixin: “I have been discussing this with some of my friends today, and it is somewhat of a sensitive topic.” She sends me an article that has been making its rounds on China’s bigger social media platforms, such as Sina Weibo and Weixin. It is titled “China Does Not Allow Single Women to Freeze Their Eggs” (中国禁单身女性用冷冻卵子), and has triggered much controversy.
Lily has passed her 30th birthday and is not married yet. She is also labelled a ‘leftover woman’ or ‘shèngnǚ‘, and laughs when she calls herself that way. She may want to have a child in the future, but first wants to go abroad and work on her career. For her, the issue of being able to freeze her egg cells, whether she is married or not, is a relevant one.
“Suddenly artificial insemination is an issue of public interest – unmarried women in China cannot carry out this procedure. ”
The online discussion about freezing eggs started after Chinese actress and director Xu Jinglei (徐静蕾) stated in an interview that she had nine eggs frozen in the United States in 2013, at the age of 39. She calls her frozen eggs a “back up plan”, in case she will not find a suitable husband and regrets not having children. The news of these frozen eggs attracted the attention of many of China’s single women who may want to have a child some day. It has suddenly made artificial insemination an issue of public interest, especially because China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission stated that unmarried women in China cannot carry out this procedure.
More specifically: although single women in China technically can have their eggs frozen (if they have the money for it), they will not be able to have them inseminated unless they provide three certificates: their identification card, their marriage certificate, and their ‘zhunshengzheng‘ (准生证 ) – the ‘Permission to give Birth’, which will not be issued without the marriage certificate. In short: single women will not be able to have a baby through artificial insemination, because they will never get the required legal papers to go through with the procedure.
Famous Chinese blogger and writer Han Han (韩寒), one of the most influential people on Weibo, shares his thoughts on the issue. “Is it impossible to want a baby when you are not married? One cannot use one’s own eggs?”, he writes: “Why can’t women decide on their own whether or not they want to have children? And what if an unmarried woman does get pregnant, and they don’t get a ‘Permission to give Birth’? Then the child cannot even get a residence registration”.
“Why should having a baby be bound together with being married?”
With his Weibo post, Han Han strikes a particularly sensitive chord, not just because he addresses the issue of freezing one’s eggs and artificial insemination, but also because he raises questions about China’s ‘Permission to give Birth’. This certificate is necessary for the vast majority of people who want to have a baby in China. Without it, the child will not have a residence permit (hukou 户口), and as a consequence, will not be registered in China’s social system – meaning they cannot go to school or have any other societal rights. (For more information, read this excellent blog about giving birth in Chengdu by ChengduLiving.com).
Artificial insemination itself is not illegal in China when it is done by a married couple; it is only against the law when done by those who are not lawfully married.
“Why should having a baby be bound together with marriage? Even I, a simple straight guy, cannot see the logic in this,” Han Han writes.
“Women are not men’s child-rearing machines or walking wombs.”
He later adds another post to this. It says:
“Some people don’t agree with my Weibo post, saying that children should have a stable family and that they should be raised with a father, and that they’d be miserable otherwise. Of course, such a mainstream family is best, but we also have to give the right of choice to the people who are not mainstream. Besides that, being married now doesn’t mean you will not divorce later, just as unmarried mothers might find a husband. Don’t take away the freedom of choice from those who have different ways of thinking than you (…). Women are not men’s child-rearing machines or walking wombs.”
The issue of being able to freeze one’s eggs and Han Han’s reaction have become a much-discussed topics on China’s social media.
Freezing one’s egg cells, like IVF, officially falls under the category of ‘human assisted reproductive technology’, which is reportedly prohibited for single women according to China’s current law. User Zhao Lao Ai refers to a Zhihu message board on the issue, where lawyer Ji Hongwei says that he has not found any legal ground why freezing eggs should be illegal for single women. “After reading into the issue carefully,” the lawyer says: “I did not find any one of the conditions for ‘human assisted reproductive technology’ stating directly, or indirectly, that unmarried single women cannot make use of it.” The lawyer therefore wonders who is in charge of the Family Planning Commission, and on which law the conclusion is based that single women cannot have their own eggs inseminated.
The feminist group The Voice of Women’s Rights has issued a balanced and nuanced statement on Weibo, saying: “There are many social implications behind the pressure for women to bear children, and they cannot merely be solved through technical procedures. Freezing eggs is a costly and risky operation, with low success rates, and it does not necessarily brings women freedom in terms of child-bearing. However, it should be one of the options that women have.”
Some Weibo users are less nuanced, clearly expressing their anger, saying: “Even in ancient times it was not illegal for women to be single mums – now there is family planning or a two-child policy, but you cannot control our wombs by the freezing eggs issue!”
“This is China, deal with it.”
Of the ten thousands netizens that responded to the issue, there are also many who disagree with Han Han, and those who simply state that “this is how China works, deal with it.”
For my friend Lily, the issue is simple. “I don’t know where I will be in five, six years time. I don’t know if I’ll be married. I don’t know if I want children. I don’t even know if I would want to freeze my eggs. I only know that I want the freedom to be able to make the decision.”
By Manya Koetse
Image by Global Times.
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