Legal determination of surrogate child parenthood in China

• Published in: African journal of reproductive health Vol. 26; no. 8; pp. 134 - 141
• Main Author: Yue, Zhao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Benin City Women's Health and Action Research Centre (WHARC) 01.08.2022; Women's Health and Action Research Centre
• Subjects: Analysis; Birth certificates; Case studies; Families & family life; Households; Laws, regulations and rules; legal determination; Litigation; Parenthood; parenthood of the surrogate child; Parenting; Registration; reproductive role; Reproductive technologies; Rights protection; Surrogacy; Surrogate mothers; China
• ISSN: 1118-4841; 1118-4841; 2141-3606
• DOI: 10.29063/ajrh2022/v26i8.13

Commercial surrogacy is neither prohibited nor approved in China. As the underground surrogacy market keeps expanding fast, the disputes over parenthood of surrogate child occur more and more frequently. Since there are no specific rules for surrogacy, Chinese courts have to make legal determination by applying current laws. This article firstly analyses the contradictions of existing laws and regulations on natural parenthood when apply them in the cases of surrogacy. In China, since the natural parenthood is built on reproductive connections between parents and child, this article provides a typology of surrogacy in terms of the reproductive role each party has played. By combining it with the case study, the judicial views on different issues are presented. This article further discusses the inadequacies of current legal determination of parenthood, ethical controversies in surrogacy and recommends some suggestions on regulating the surrogacy and protecting the rights and interests of women and children.