Shenzhen surrogacy clinic offers an alphabet of available women

The women are graded from A to G. The plain ones are cheapest, the prettier, better educated, unmarried ones command a premium. A 1,000-yuan deposit will secure their services ... as surrogate mothers.

A Shenzhen-based company is offering the women through a website it claims was started by the 'Hong Kong Kowloon government' in memory of a late Hong Kong doctor who helped infertile couples.

One of several mainland sites offering such services, www. 19292.com provides the services for between 58,000 and 108,000 yuan.

Having children by surrogate mothers is illegal on the mainland, according to legal experts quoted by China News Service. Ms Chen, a staff member who answered the phone, said the company - 19292 Loving Surrogate Mother Website - had unspecified 'internal relationships' with the Hong Kong government.

She insisted the procedure was safe and that a DNA test would be conducted on the baby a month after birth to ensure it was the client's child.

Surrogate mothers can be impregnated in two ways. One is to insert the client's sperm into the surrogate mother.