• 11 years ago
Wealthy Chinese couples are increasingly spending big on securing surrogate mothers in the United States who can bear them a child on US soil. Children born in the country are automatically conferred US citizenship.

With frequent food safety scandals, poor air quality, a presser-cooker education system and the absence of the rule of law, the safety net of permanent residency in a Western country is something many Chinese citizens covet. Greater numbers numbers of affluent Chinese are finding ways to move their cash and families abroad. The recent upward trend in birth tourism and foreign surrogacy reflects this.

US surrogacy agencies are reporting a huge surge in applications from Chinese couples; many are shelling out as much as US$200,000 for the privilege. To answer the increasing demand, such businesses are creating Chinese-language websites and hiring Mandarin-speaking staff to cater to mainland Chinese clients.

Boston-based Circle Surrogacy handles around 140 cases each year and has serviced half a dozen cases from Chinese clients in the last few years. "I would be surprised if you called me back in four months and that number hadn't doubled," president John Weltman told the Reuters news agency. "That's the level of interest we've seen this year from China and the very serious conversations we've had with people who I think will be joining us in the next three or four months."

But American agencies, which encourage parents and surrogates to develop relationships are concerned that Chinese often view the process as a mere business transaction. Surrogate mothers who hope to have a relationship with the family may be disappointed to learn they are often viewed as little more than foetus factories.

--------------------------------------------------------

Daily videos brought to you by THE Taiwanese Animators behind the infamous Tiger Woods animation. We got the funniest animations on the web to help you stay in-the-know on all the trending stories, so sit back, relax, and watch a few.

Visit our channel for your daily dose of Taiwanese Animations:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TomoNewsUS

Wish all your news was animated? Subscribe now:
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsUS

Can't get enough of Taiwanese animations? Connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/NMAtv
Twitter @nmatv http://www.twitter.com/nmatv
Tumblr http://nmatv.tumblr.com
Google+ http://gplus.to/NMAtv
Web http://www.nma.tv

Recommended