Hong Kong couples not keen on surrogacy, so easing strict rules won’t produce more babies, experts say
- Traditional family values are so entrenched that ‘renting a womb is like having another mother’
- New People’s Party suggestions stir discussion, but few are in favour of relaxing current restrictions
Legal obstacles are not the only barriers to surrogacy in Hong Kong. Traditional family values also put people off the idea of renting a womb to have a baby, experts told the Post.
Specialists in reproductive medicine and bioethics did not think easing the rules on surrogacy would make a difference to the shortage of babies in the city.
They were responding to a raft of suggestions by the New People’s Party last month to boost the number of babies in Hong Kong, including revising the rules on surrogacy, such as opening up commercial options.
Its focus on surrogacy, through which a couple has a baby by getting a woman – or surrogate – to go through pregnancy and childbirth on their behalf, sparked public discussion of the controversial practice.
Under the city’s Human Reproductive Technology Ordinance, it is allowed only when certain conditions are met, including that the arrangement is altruistic and does not involve payment to surrogates, and the applicants are heterosexual married couples who provide their own eggs and sperm.