China's Maternal Dilemma: Single Women's Struggle for Fertility Options Amidst Societal and Policy Constraints

Frozen in Time: The Maternal Dilemma Facing Single Women in China

In , which was originally published more than two months ago, we explore the experiences of single women like Yang Li*, a Beijing-based professional who faced societal restrictions as she considered her future as a mother. With every ticking year, Yang grappled with the decision to have children or not, and by her 34th birthday last year, she decided to freeze her eggs after consulting with healthcare providers.

Unfortunately for single individuals like Yang in China, the country's stringent regulations permit egg freezing only for married couples who are experiencing fertility issues. In an attempt to address the nation’s declining birthrate, President Xi Jinping has implored society to adopt a new culture of marriage and childbearing. Amidst this backdrop, Chinese women with financial means have been resorting to overseas destinations such as the Czech Republic and Laos for egg freezing services.

Yang, like many other educated urban women delaying marriage or motherhood in China, was forced to travel abroad due to these limitations. She sought out advice on Chinese social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu a female-centric app boasting over 200 million users, where she discovered positive reviews about the Czech Republic's egg freezing experiences.

In her quest for this procedure, Yang eventually chose the Czech Republic because it was both affordable compared to US options and permitted the transportation of frozen eggs abroad for future IVF procedures. Reflecting on her process, Yang While I have the privilege of financial stability and vacation time due to my job, navigating this was indeed a difficult process.

According to recent studies by economists Ren Zeping and Liang Jianzhang, over 65 of women between 30 and 34 years old in China desire egg freezing services as a means to delay motherhood. However, the Chinese government has remned steadfast with its policy stance, arguing that such practices might instigate unrealistic expectations about fertility among single women.

A notable exception emerged when a court in China overturned Teresa Xu's lawsuit agnst a Beijing hospital in 2022, which denied her request for egg freezing services on the grounds of violating her rights. Xu is still awting a final decision after appealing the ruling last year.

For Yang and many others like her, these constrnts reveal societal perceptions that educated and older women should refrn from having children, especially when they choose to remn single. I believe society doesn't want my kids, she says, expressing frustration with the current policy landscape in China.

As demographic pressures increase, it is anticipated by experts like Lijia Zhang, a writer working on a book about changing attitudes towards marriage and motherhood in China, that policymakers will eventually relax restrictions. While this may occur without fanfare, some provinces have already begun permitting single women to register their children and offer them maternity benefits.

This narrative underscores the growing urgency for policy reform as China faces the significant challenge of its declining birth ratea phenomenon which may require a rethinking of societal attitudes towards parenthood, particularly among educated, older individuals who choose not to marry or postpone motherhood.

In , Yang's experience highlights both personal and systemic challenges faced by single women in China seeking access to fertility services, drawing attention to the need for policy adaptation to address demographic concerns while respecting individual reproductive rights.

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This article is reproduced from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/17/single-women-china-egg-freezing-ban

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