Rich Chinese Using American Mothers as Surrogates for Their Children's Citizenship and Education
The amount of Chinese parents using surrogates in in America has increased, with fertility clinics expecting the demand to rise, according to reports.
Using surrogates in China is illegal but that has not stopped the well-to do from hiring American women to bear their children.
John Weltman, president of Boston-based Circle Surrogacy, stated that his clinic has done half a dozen Chinese surrogacy cases over the last five years.
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While there are any number of reasons for Chinese families to choose American surrogates, Weltman says the more common is a desire for their children to have U.S. citizenship while others want their children be educated in American schools.
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. constitution gives anyone born in the United States the right to citizenship and a growing number of Chinese women are traveling to America with the sole purpose of giving birth to the child on American soil. The number of these types of births is expected to grow as well.
"I would be surprised if you called me back in four months and that number hadn't doubled," Weltman told Reuters. "That's the level of interest we've seen this year from China and the very serious conversations we've had with people who I think will be joining us in the next three or four months."
The number of Chinese visitors to the U.S. is also increasing up from 1 million in 2010 to 1.8 million in 2012, U.S. immigration statistics show.
Some Chinese agencies cite costs between $120,000 and $200,000 for a surrogate. Hopeful parents can expect to pay the surrogate between $22,000 and $30,000 along with an agency fee of about $17,000 to $20,000 and legal fees of up to $20,000.
Egg donation can run an additional $15,000 and prenatal care and delivery fees can cost upwards of $15,000, leaving this option available only to wealthiest Chinese familes.
