In the wake of China's universal two-child policy enacted in 2016, the number of women willing to have a second child has soared. Infertility, however, is a problem for some couples.
Of the roughly 90 million families which are eligible to have a second child, 60 percent of wives are over 35 years old, and half of them are more than 40 years old, reports People's Daily.
"With women's aging, the fertility rate declines. About 90 percent of women lose the ability to give birth after the age of 45. The average age for a woman to get pregnant for the last time is 40," said Geng Linlin, deputy director of the Clinical Medicine Center of the National Health and Family Planning Commission.
Also, babies born to older mothers have higher rates of abnormalities, with numbers reaching 8 percent to 15 percent if a pregnant woman is over 34 years old, Geng added.
In China, around 15 million couples suffer infertility. The rate globally is between 15 and 20 percent, according to the World Health Organization.
Further, male infertility has seen an increase in recent years. More and more men suffer azoospermia, oligospermia or asthenospermia, reports People's Daily.
Surrogacy offers a way for infertile couples to have children, but the practice is currently illegal in China. Early in 2001, a regulation issued by China's health authority said that medical institutions and staff shall not carry out surrogate pregnancies in any way.
"Even though the sperm and egg are from the client couple, it may give some people the feeling of a complex parent-child relationship. Disputes may occur if the surrogate mother refuses to return the baby," said Xue Jun, professor of the law school of Peking University.
While surrogacy is banned in many countries, including France, Germany, Spain and Italy, it's allowed in others like Belgium, the Netherland, Denmark and Finland. In Russia, there are special surrogacy agents, and lots of surrogate mothers.
"Voluntary surrogacy is available in many countries. Generally, surrogate mothers do it for free." says Wang Lina, doctor of Peking University Third Hospital. Wang suggested allowing surrogacy in China but banning commercial surrogacy.
Professor Wang Yifang from Peking University said that ethical concepts should not be the barrier to allowing surrogacy. Surrogacy gives hope to those families which have lost their only child.
"Further, we shall put surrogacy under strict rules rather than let it develop arbitrarily," added Wang.
