news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

author: he guosheng, a reporter from southern window

intern song yuling

"800 square meters, built according to the standards of a class iii hospital, cost 4.5 million yuan." this is what qingdao boss cong mouchao said about an underground surrogacy laboratory that has been in use since march 2024 and is said to be the largest in the north. the "main business" is egg retrieval, embryo cultivation and transplantation, providing services to illegal surrogacy personnel.

on august 26, shangguan zhengyi, a well-known anti-trafficking philanthropist, once again exposed the dark side of underground surrogacy.

shangguan zhengyi told nanfeng window that in june this year, he learned through undercover work that qingdao boss cong mouchao had privately opened an underground laboratory and colluded with doctors, anesthesiologists and nurses from medical institutions such as qingdao women and children's hospital to carry out illegal activities such as egg retrieval and embryo transplantation in the underground surrogacy laboratory.

at the same time, it alleged that surrogacy agencies sold birth medical certificates at prices ranging from 50,000 yuan.

on the same day, after being reported by the media, the incident became a hot topic. shangguan zhengyi said that cong mouchao was nominally providing ivf consulting services, but secretly covered the entire chain of the surrogacy industry.

"the agency has a clear division of labor. there are dedicated personnel to find egg donors through the internet, dedicated personnel to find surrogate clients, dedicated personnel to accompany mothers during childbirth, and dedicated personnel to connect with and develop domestic medical institutions," shangguan zhengyi wrote in the report.

according to an unnamed insider and confirmed by shangguan zhengyi, the doctors who operated in the underground surrogacy laboratory were li, deputy chief physician of the reproductive medicine center of qingdao women and children's hospital, and qian, deputy chief physician of the obstetrics department of qingdao lianchi women and infants hospital. there was also a nurse named ning whose specific work unit was unknown, and an anesthesiologist.

according to an insider, for each underground operation, the surrogacy agency paid the doctor 1,500 yuan, the anesthesiologist 2,000 yuan, and the nurse 600 yuan in cash. from the first operation in march to june this year, dozens of operations were performed.

in this regard, on august 26, the qingdao municipal health commission issued a report: in response to the online rumor that a certain qingdao biological company was engaged in surrogacy, our 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.

underground laboratory hidden in auto parts city

surrogacy, commonly known as "giving birth to a child through a surrogate mother," is a process in which a third-party woman takes over the client's place to conceive and give birth to a fetus.

egg retrieval, fertilization and embryo transplantation are indispensable steps in surrogacy. although surrogacy is prohibited in our country, some people have seen "business opportunities" in it and created an illegal business.

in june 2024, shangguan zhengyi, who had successfully cooperated with local relevant departments many times, received news that there was an underground surrogacy laboratory in qingdao, which claimed that it could perform egg retrieval, embryo cultivation and transplantation operations. shangguan zhengyi followed the clues and found cong mouchao.

according to qichacha information, cong mouchao has two companies under his name - qingdao chunyun ivf consulting co., ltd. and meike biotechnology co., ltd. the former was established in april 2018, and its business scope mainly includes ivf technical consultation, medical information intermediary services (the above does not include diagnosis and treatment), etc. the latter was established in march 2023, and its business scope mainly includes cell technology research and development and application, medical research and experimental development, human stem cell technology development and application, etc.

neither company is qualified to carry out assisted reproduction.

relevant information of qingdao chunyun ivf consulting co., ltd., whose business scope includes ivf technical consulting, medical information intermediary services (all of the above do not include diagnosis and treatment); enterprise management consulting, tourism information consulting (excluding travel agency business); translation services, etc./source: qichacha

in the undercover video of henan tv's urban report, cong mouchao admitted that the two companies were his, and said that they had covered the entire fertility industry chain. in addition to the two companies as reception halls, they also had their own laboratory in qingdao. he also said that his laboratory was built according to the standards of a tertiary hospital, and some equipment was even better than that of a tertiary hospital. it covers an area of ​​more than 800 square meters and cost 4.5 million yuan.

according to people familiar with the matter, the underground surrogacy laboratory is located in a certain auto parts city on huicheng road, chengyang district, qingdao. the site was rented in december 2023 for construction, and the first operation began around march 10, 2024. the operation was scheduled according to the ovulation induction time. however, the laboratory has been "not doing well" since its opening, with an average of one operation every three to five days.

at the end of june, shangguan zhengyi went to qingdao to look for the laboratory. "after entering the auto parts city, turn right and go in, walk to the end and then walk down about 150 meters," shangguan zhengyi said. the laboratory is relatively hidden and difficult for strangers to find. someone else told him that the laboratory would not open the door no matter how hard you knock from the outside on weekdays.

"this auto parts city is not a busy area. it's quite deserted inside and not many people are around. on the laboratory side, the shops are basically closed and locked." shangguan zhengyi said that when they arrived at the door of the laboratory, they couldn't tell where it was from the outside. it was an ordinary door without any signboard information, and there was a generator next to the door.

the entrance outside the underground surrogacy laboratory is very hidden

"we knocked on the door but no one answered, so we waited outside for a long time, but didn't see anyone coming in or out, so we suspected they had moved away." shangguan zhengyi said that according to his understanding, someone had tried to report the agency in june, and on june 18, the person had consulted the chengyang district health commission on how to report such surrogacy agencies.

shortly thereafter, several work group chats of the agency were disbanded.

however, pictures of the laboratory in cong mouchao’s circle of friends obtained by nanfang window reporters showed that the laboratory was well-equipped and newly decorated.

cong mouchao underground surrogacy laboratory surgical equipment

"my career is over, i know that"

cong mouchao's laboratory is not small, but there are not many staff members. shangguan zhengyi told nanfengchuang that according to his understanding, there are five or six people in the laboratory, some are responsible for finding surrogate mothers and egg donors, some are in charge of negotiating cooperation with hospitals, and others are responsible for miscellaneous laboratory chores.

the core work is done by "professional" people. in the above-mentioned media undercover video, cong said that the laboratory's operations were performed by doctors from tertiary hospitals. according to informed sources, from march to june, the "operators" for the laboratory were li, deputy chief physician of the reproductive medicine center of qingdao women and children's hospital, and qian, deputy chief physician of the obstetrics department of qingdao lianchi women and children's hospital.

qian, deputy chief physician of obstetrics at qingdao lianchi women and infants hospital, in the hospital's introduction column

a reporter from southern window learned from the hospital's registration system that li is an associate chief physician at the hospital's reproductive medicine center and holds a master's degree. he is good at the diagnosis and treatment of female infertility, female endocrine diseases, and the implementation of assisted reproductive technology.

an insider told shangguan zhengyi that before each operation, cong chao's laboratory partner wei was responsible for picking up li by special car, and li brought an anesthesiologist with him. in the first month, li performed the operation, and qian from qingdao lianchi women and children's hospital watched from the side. in about april, li stopped participating for some reason, and qian took over.

in fact, qian has no professional background in assisted reproduction and has never worked in the reproductive medicine department.

information from qingdao lianchi women and infants hospital shows that qian is the former deputy chief physician of obstetrics department of qingdao university affiliated hospital and is currently the deputy chief physician of obstetrics department of the hospital. he holds a master's degree and is good at eugenics and genetic counseling, perinatal care, and is proficient in vaginal deliveries such as vacuum extraction and forceps.

shangguan zhengyi told nanfengchuang that according to his understanding, cong chao instructed his partner wei to give li 1,500 yuan in cash for each operation he completed, and the anesthesiologist 2,000 yuan each time, because the anesthesiologist had to bring his own anesthetics, so there was an extra 500 yuan. nurse ning was paid 600 yuan for each operation she participated in.

the above remuneration will be paid in the form of cash in envelopes.

li, deputy chief physician of the reproductive medicine center of qingdao women and children's hospital

in addition, people familiar with the matter reported that because there are not many people in the laboratory, sometimes people responsible for cleaning will also be arranged to perform b-ultrasound and other operations.

on july 2, shangguan zhengyi went to qingdao women and children's hospital and qingdao lianchi women and children's hospital to find li and qian respectively to verify whether they were involved in the illegal activities of the underground surrogacy laboratory.

in the video obtained by the southern window reporter, when questioned, li initially denied that he had participated in the operation of the underground surrogacy laboratory. however, under constant questioning, li hesitated for a moment and then said, "i was not directly involved, but i did go to see it when it was set up."

however, when the photo of him in the laboratory was shown, li claimed that he was providing technical guidance to the laboratory. later, he admitted that he had been there several times, but he could not remember the exact number of times and had forgotten how much money he had taken.

"did you receive 1,000 yuan?" li looked down from time to time when asked, and replied: "anyway, i know about this. i may be like you said, my career is over, i know it very well."

underground surrogacy laboratory operation scene

similarly, when questioned, qian from qingdao lianchi women and infants hospital also initially denied it. after repeated questioning and talking about li, qian changed her story and said that she just went to take a look at the operation, and later when li stopped doing it, they all stopped doing it. when asked if she received money, qian smiled and said, "i didn't have money if i didn't do it (the operation) at that time. how could i get money if i didn't do it (the operation)?"

finally, qian said that she initially wanted to learn how to perform surgery from li, but later li quit and she did not participate anymore.

why surrogacy continues despite repeated bans

in addition to opening an underground surrogacy laboratory, shangguan zhengyi accused cong mouchao's surrogacy agency of taking over production tasks from other surrogacy agencies across the country, colluding with internal personnel of medical institutions, arranging for surrogate mothers to be hospitalized and give birth with the client's identity information, and then selling birth medical certificates at prices ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 yuan.

shangguan zhengyi told reporters that according to the evidence he had, the agency had sent surrogate mothers from other surrogacy agencies to at least five hospitals in three provinces, including shandong, jiangsu and liaoning, to arrange their deliveries.

"because other surrogacy agencies cannot arrange the birth, they have connections. even after the birth is completed in the hospital they connect with, their help is not free, so they charge for the birth medical certificate. one birth certificate costs 30,000 to 50,000 yuan," said shangguan zhengyi.

interior scene of underground surrogacy laboratory

in march 2024, southern window reported that a surrogacy agency "bribed" internal hospital staff to provide convenience for surrogate mothers so that they could give birth smoothly with the surrogacy client's identity information.

in this way, after the child is born, even though the client did not give birth personally, because her information was registered at the hospital, she naturally established a legal parent-child relationship with the child, and was able to smoothly obtain the birth medical certificate and subsequent household registration.

at that time, the hospitals suspected of providing convenience to surrogacy agencies included public tertiary hospitals, county-level people's hospitals and other private hospitals. the existence of such "insiders" in hospitals brought great convenience to surrogacy agencies, helping them to perform egg retrieval, embryo cultivation and transplantation operations, and enabling their surrogate mothers to give birth smoothly in regular hospitals.

as for surrogacy, the relevant laws and regulations are still not perfect.

li dan, a senior family lawyer at shanghai xieli law firm, told southern window that the current domestic laws and regulations related to surrogacy that are still effective are the former ministry of health's "measures for the administration of human assisted reproductive technology" (hereinafter referred to as the "measures").

however, this regulation only imposes mandatory constraints on medical institutions and medical personnel, and cannot effectively target the current black surrogacy industry chain, nor can it effectively regulate biological parents who want to have children through surrogacy.

for example, according to the second paragraph of article 22 of the "management measures", if medical institutions and medical personnel implement surrogacy technology, the health administrative departments of the provincial, autonomous regional and municipal people's governments shall give warnings, impose fines of no more than 30,000 yuan, and impose administrative sanctions on the relevant responsible persons; if a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.

screenshot from a certain wechat moments content

li dan believes that only punishing those who carry out surrogacy, but not those who seek surrogacy, will lead to the constant demand for surrogacy. where there is demand, there will be interests, and where there are interests, there will be implementers. "in addition, children born through surrogacy in china can be registered unilaterally based on paternity testing, which has led to many people who do not want to have children themselves or families who want to continue the family line easily seeking surrogate mothers to achieve surrogacy."

at around 10 a.m. on august 27, a reporter from nanfang window called the reproductive medicine center of qingdao women and children's hospital to inquire whether li was still seeing patients as usual. the staff said that if the online system can make appointments, it means that he is still seeing patients.

the other party said that he was not clear about the report of participating in illegal surrogacy. later, the reporter saw in the online registration system that the doctor involved, li, was still available for registration. among them, the appointments for the afternoon of the 27th and the morning of the 28th were shown to be fully booked, and they were all expert appointments.

that afternoon, li was no longer listed in the hospital's registration system. in addition, li's physician homepage information in the registration system was no longer displayed.

on the morning of august 27, li's number was still available.

on the afternoon of august 27, it was shown that li had stopped seeing patients.

qingdao lianchi hospital staff told nanfengchuang that qian, deputy chief physician of the hospital's obstetrics department, had stopped seeing patients temporarily, and the time of resumption was unknown. regarding the report that he was suspected of illegally carrying out assisted reproduction, the other party said he was not clear about the relevant situation.

on august 28, southern window reporters called cong mouchao's private phone several times, but were unable to get through.

the pictures in this article are from the interviewees. the first picture is the interior scene of the underground surrogacy laboratory.