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On the afternoon of August 26, the Qingdao Municipal Health Commission issued a report stating that in response to the online rumor that a Qingdao biological company was engaged in surrogacy, the Qingdao Municipal Health Commission immediately formed a joint investigation team with the public security, market supervision and other departments to investigate and verify the relevant situation. Once verified, it will be dealt with seriously in accordance with the law.

On the same day, according to Henan TV's "Metropolitan Report", in Qingdao, Shandong, in an almost abandoned auto trade city, there is a hidden "high-end laboratory" for surrogacy.

The report mentioned that someone claimed to have worked in the surrogacy industry for ten years and had two formally registered companies in Shandong. On the surface, they were biotechnology companies, but secretly they were running an underground surrogacy business. "Surrogacy for a child costs 750,000 yuan, and if you want to select the gender, you have to add another 200,000 yuan, guaranteed."

Screenshot of the video of Metropolis Report

The report also mentioned that an insider reported to reporters that doctors from tertiary hospitals colluded with surrogacy agencies to perform illegal operations such as egg retrieval and transplantation in underground laboratories, charging a fee of 1,500 yuan per time, and the anesthesiologist charged 2,000 yuan per time, and the patients needed to bring their own anesthetics.

People familiar with the matter said that this surrogacy agency does not have many employees, only about five or six people. Some of them specialize in looking for clients who need surrogacy on online platforms, and looking for mothers willing to be surrogate mothers and women willing to sell eggs.

According to an insider, anesthesia is not necessary for "egg donation". A girl had donated eggs 17 or 18 times before, and donated eggs every three months. Once, the agency staff gave the girl an anesthetic, but the girl forgot to put it in. During the operation, the girl's voice could be heard throughout the corridor. It was very painful. The egg retrieval doctor even refused to perform egg retrieval surgery again because of this incident.

Screenshot of the video of Metropolis Report

Compared with the normal in vitro fertilization technology carried out in hospitals, surrogacy not only breaks the legal boundaries and arbitrarily screens the gender of embryos, but also touches the moral red line.

As early as 2022, the Qingdao Municipal Health Commission issued an article introducing the surrogacy/egg selling trap.

1. The surrogacy trap

Surrogacy agencies often use the banner of benefiting infertile families, using "high returns and salaries" as bait, and never mention the risks of surrogacy.

1. What is surrogacy?

Surrogacy refers to the act of a fertile woman (i.e. surrogate mother) implanting a fertilized egg into the uterus with the help of modern medical technology (human assisted reproductive technology and its derivative technologies) to complete pregnancy and childbirth for another person (the client).

2. Is surrogacy possible?

No, surrogacy is illegal.

3. Are there any risks in being a surrogate mother?

(1) The rights of the surrogate mother stipulated in the surrogacy contract are not protected by law. If the surrogate mother suffers from fetal arrest or miscarriage during pregnancy or is asked to have an abortion by the other party, she will not only face health damage but also will not receive the agreed money.

(2) Like normal pregnant women, surrogate mothers face the threat of diseases such as gestational hypertension and placenta previa during pregnancy.

(3) Since conception is not natural, medication is required and the surrogate mother has to bear the risk of side effects from the medication.

(4) If the surrogate mother has a history of cesarean section, uterine rupture is likely to occur.

(5) "Surrogate mothers" also face a series of risks during the delivery process, such as postpartum hemorrhage, amniotic fluid embolism, etc., which seriously threaten their life safety.

(6) If the child is born with defects, it is very likely to be "returned" as a commodity, or even "returned" directly by the "customer" if the "customer" does not want it. The surrogate mother may face the dilemma of raising the surrogate baby alone.

(7) In order to meet the client’s demand for a guaranteed boy, the surrogate mother may have to have repeated abortions until she conceives a boy. Continuous abortions may lead to uterine perforation, postoperative infection, cervical or uterine adhesions, infertility, and even massive bleeding that is life-threatening.

2. The “trap” of illegal egg selling

They usually use the labels of "no harm" and "high reward" to lure young women into falling for it.

1. Can eggs be sold?

No! The Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Standards prohibit any organization or individual from recruiting egg donors in any form for commercial egg donation. Egg donation is limited to the remaining eggs in the human assisted reproductive treatment cycle.

2. What is egg retrieval? Is it really painless?

Egg retrieval is usually done after ovulation induction treatment to make the follicles mature. The egg retrieval needle is passed through the posterior fornix of the vagina to directly reach the location of the follicles, and the oocytes and granulosa cells in the follicles are sucked out. The egg retrieval needle is about 35 cm long and about 2 mm thick. Informal institutions usually do not use anesthesia to save costs, and the process is by no means painless.

(1) Regular egg retrieval surgery must be performed in a sterile operating room, and all instruments must be strictly sterilized. Informal institutions are often located in hidden places such as residential areas, with low medical technology, unsterilized equipment, and poor operating room environment, which greatly increases the risk of infection.

(2) The ovaries are highly sensitive to ovulation-inducing drugs, which may lead to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, which can cause pleural effusion and peritoneal effusion.

(3) Illegal institutions do not have the conditions for emergency rescue. Once problems such as massive bleeding, ovarian torsion, organ damage, and drug-induced anaphylactic shock occur, timely rescue cannot be provided.

(4) For profit, institutions that perform illegal egg retrieval surgery will induce women to donate eggs multiple times. Repeated ovarian puncture can easily lead to menstrual disorders, amenorrhea, premature ovarian failure, early menopause and other problems. Severe cases may even lead to infertility and may increase the risk of ovarian cancer.

In order to protect the physical and mental health of women, if you find any clues of illegal activities such as surrogacy/egg selling, please call 12345 to report it.