For four years, Beijing-born Su Lang tried desperately to have a baby. But it was only after three miscarriages and much disappointment that her doctor gave her the devastating news that fibroids in her uterus would prevent her from ever carrying a baby to term.
'I was absolutely heartbroken. It had got very depressing just trying and trying. I had so desperately wanted to have a child, and had always dreamed of having many kids and a large family. When I read about the possibility of surrogacy, it gave me tremendous hope,' said the former primary school teacher, who has lived in the US for several decades.
Six years ago, when Lang was in her late 30s, her daughter was born via a gestational surrogacy in which the surrogate received Lang's fertilised egg and carried the baby to term.
She was so grateful for the birth that she set up the Surrogacy Centre Hong Kong in an effort to help others in similar situations.
'Without having been in my situation, you can't possibly know what it is like to so desperately want a child yet not be able to have one. When you are in that position, you are wiling to do anything and to leave no stone unturned to think of a way of achieving your goal,' explained Lang, who lived in Hong Kong for two years before emigrating to the US with her family when she was five years old.
Since 2005, her agency has grown steadily, attracting an increasing number of Asians, including Chinese people, who now see surrogacy as their last option.
'In the US, surrogacy has become a mainstream alternative for people with money. In recent years, it has become all the rage and so accepted. Not a single week goes by without surrogacy appearing in the news. Hollywood is doing it, everyone is doing it,' she said.