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 According to China's laws on human assisted reproduction, only
married couples can use such health services, and they must be able
to prove their marital status by showing a marriage license.
Teresa Xu, 31, visited the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Hospital at Capital Medical University in November 2018, wanting to
freeze her eggs while she focused on her career as a writer on
gender issues.
A woman's eggs deteriorate in quality as she ages, presenting
obstacles to conception among older women. Through a medical
procedure, a woman's eggs can be removed from her ovaries and frozen
for use at a later time.
Xu, from northeastern Heilongjiang province, said on her first visit
to the hospital for a checkup, the doctor asked about her marital
status and urged her to have a child now instead of freezing her
eggs.
Upon her second visit, the doctor told her she could not proceed any
further.
"I came here for a professional service, but instead I got someone
who was urging me to put aside my work and to have a child first,"
she said. "I have already received a lot of this pressure in this
society, this culture."
When asked by Reuters to comment, the hospital declined, saying it
could not speak to international media.
China's rapid economic growth has created the conditions for single
women to become financially independent, but the country's policies
and medical industry have not necessarily kept pace.
"This is a systemic issue, because the system has brought this
difficult position for single women," Xu said.
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She considered illegal clinics.
The women's bathroom door at the hospital, Xu said, was filled with
these ads.
But ultimately she decided against it.
Those who can afford it have circumvented China's strict laws on
fertility by going abroad. Xu said she had made enquiries but found
it too expensive.
Agents told her that a treatment in Thailand would cost about
100,000 yuan ($14,273) and 200,000 yuan if she wanted to undergo the
treatment in the United States.
Xu said her case was expected to go on for several months.
"I personally feel that being able to arrive at this stage is
already a sort of win," she said.
"For me I didn't feel like I was at court as an individual. I felt I
was standing there with the weight of many other single women's
expectations."
($1 = 7.0063 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(This story corrects to remove erroneous reference to marriage laws
in headline, paragraph 1.)
(Reporting by Huizhong Wu; Editing by Ryan Woo and Michael Perry)
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