Cross-border frozen egg intermediary market survey: spending hundreds of thousands of dollars at every risk is not guaranteed

Cross-border frozen egg intermediary market survey: spending hundreds of thousands of dollars at every risk accident is not guaranteed

　　China-Singapore Jingwei client, July 12 (Luo Kun intern Tang Xiaoyu) "There is no time to look back, but frozen eggs can retain the first line of life." "Frozen eggs are the only regret medicine for women."... In recent years, With the "demonstration effect" of some female stars and the advertisements of assisted reproductive agencies, more and more single women choose frozen egg as an assisted reproductive technology to preserve their fertility.

　　Due to the difficulties in freezing eggs for single women in China, many people choose to go abroad to freeze eggs, which has spawned a large number of intermediaries. These institutions target the needs of single women and charge high fees. Legal persons pointed out that because the hospitals performing frozen egg surgery are abroad, it is difficult for those who choose this service to verify the accuracy of the information. When intermediary breaches, hospital service breaches, or even infringements occur, it is more difficult to defend rights.

　　Actor Xu Jinglei talks about "frozen eggs" in an interview. Screenshot source: Tencent Video

Frozen eggs = the only regret medicine for women?

　　Lin Shan went to the United States twice, the first time to freeze embryos, forming two boys and a girl; the second time, she froze 13 mature eggs.

　　In her view, this is both a hope for the future and a guarantee for the future. If she meets a loved one, she can create new life with the frozen eggs, and if not, she can also thaw the embryo and give birth to a mixed-race baby.

　　Lin Shan, 38, currently works as a product manager for an Internet company. She had hoped to get married and have children before the age of 30. However, the busy work made the plan delayed. As more and more friends around her have their own family and children, this has greatly touched Lin Shan, but she does not want to get married for the sake of giving birth. "If you can have children without getting married, why don't I try it?"

　　Two years ago, at the age of 36, she was told that if she was not married at this age, she should have a physical examination for frozen eggs as soon as possible. The test results show that she has good physical fitness and is suitable for frozen eggs. Since there is no organization for frozen eggs for unmarried women in China, Lin Shan can only collect a lot of information about frozen eggs by herself, and also asks her friend who is an intermediary to make frozen eggs to take root in her heart.

　　Before freezing the eggs, Lin Shan tentatively asked her mother, who repeatedly objected. Therefore, the family still thinks that her daughter just went to the United States on business and travel. For Lin Shan, her life after freezing the eggs seems to be a lot easier. Now she plans to become a mother before the age of 40. "I can get married, I can make friends, and I can stay up all night, and then go out with friends. ."

　　Compared to Lin Shan, Zhao Xingxuan seemed more "prepared for rain." At the age of 29, she has begun to seriously consider the matter of frozen eggs.

　　"I don't want to have no children in my future life," Zhao Xingxuan said with a smile, taking advantage of the young frozen eggs, for her to buy an "insurance" for herself, or a dose of "hypertension needle." "I want to focus on my own rhythm and my preferences to decide my future feelings, or even get married." In her view, the decision to freeze eggs alleviated the problems of future pregnancy such as the infertility caused by changes in egg quality. Worries also protect the right to "make choices that do not violate your heart".

　　In the years of studying in Australia, Zhao Xingxuan often saw female figures pushing a stroller to class on campus. Here, a single mother is a reasonable existence. Similarly, in such a social environment, unmarried frozen eggs are not taboo. Taking into account geographical factors and trust in Australian hospitals, Zhao Xingxuan plans to complete frozen eggs within next year.

　　While single women plan their future for themselves, some companies also provide material support for working women's frozen eggs. According to reports, both Facebook and Apple in the United States have treated frozen eggs as welfare for female employees. A domestic travel company also used frozen eggs as a "gift package" for female executives in 2018, giving financial assistance and frozen egg holidays.

Intermediary market survey: spending hundreds of thousands

　　In domestic hospitals, frozen eggs still need complete identification cards, marriage certificates, and birth certificates before they can be processed. For more single women, it is not realistic for them to go to overseas hospitals with language barriers to freeze their eggs, and some intermediary agencies came into being.

　　It is understood that at present, the United States, Japan, Russia, Thailand and other countries can provide single female transnational frozen egg service. "If you go to Thailand to do frozen eggs now, you can apply for a medical certificate. After that, isolation and test tubes can be performed in the hospital at the same time, which is equivalent to a 14-day isolation period!" According to Linda, a frozen egg consultant of an intermediary agency, the cost and technology And post-production, are the three major factors to consider when choosing a frozen egg country. Generally speaking, the United States is the best choice when considering technical factors and later production factors; if distance and price issues are considered, Thailand is often the preferred place for single females to freeze eggs.

　　The price list provided by the intermediary.

　　According to the price list provided by the consultant, the cost of frozen eggs in the United States is 18,000 US dollars (about 127,100 yuan), Russia needs 98,000 yuan for frozen eggs, 60,000 to 90,000 yuan in Japan, and about 40,000 to 50,000 yuan in Thailand . These expenses are only medical expenses, and subsequent storage fees still need to be paid by themselves. It is understood that one year's storage fee ranges from 3,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan.

　　Take an intermediary agency that provides assistance to the United States and Thai frozen eggs as an example. According to its consultant Amy, customers can live in the United States for villas provided by the agency in the cost of food, housing and transportation. One fee includes three meals a day, hospital transfers and other services. While going to Thailand, a total of 58,000 yuan is required for the meal and accommodation package. "Of course, you can also choose to arrange your own accommodation, travel," Amy said. This also means that, if you calculate the storage fee for the later period, if you calculate it in ten years, even in Thailand with "high cost performance", it will cost nearly 100,000 yuan at a time.

　　According to the intermediary, if you plan to freeze eggs, you need to first conduct a physical examination in China to check the number of eggs and hormone indicators. If the indicators in all aspects are not ideal, it is not recommended to freeze the eggs immediately. After obtaining the medical examination report, the intermediary will contact the client for an expert remote consultation. "Typically, experts from Thailand and the United States can be remote. But if you choose Japan, you need a consultation."

　　With the increase in market demand, Linda's agency is expected to have more than 5,000 domestic guests each year for frozen eggs and test tubes in the United States, Japan, and Thailand, of which approximately 10% are frozen egg clients. Amy, a consultant from another institution, also said, "There are always three or five hundred customers in the business every year. And this year is the eleventh year."

　　For the frozen egg intermediaries active in the market, legal practitioners and well-known legal Weibo@谈典規 Blogger Guo Xiaoming believes that these intermediaries provide intermediary services for women in need, and use this to obtain a certain fee, and there is no violation The mandatory provisions of Chinese laws and regulations are a normal market demand and behavior, but (consumers looking for intermediaries) also have some risks. "Because these hospitals are not in the country, the information is asymmetric, making it difficult for those who choose this service to verify the accuracy of the information. When intermediary breaches, hospital service breaches, or even infringements occur, it is more difficult to defend rights." Guo Xiaoming said.

　　According to media reports, in 2018, the San Francisco Pacific Fertility Clinic and other institutions successively appeared to have insufficient liquid nitrogen for frozen eggs and frozen embryos in the clinic, which caused the temperature of the storage cabinet to rise and caused irreversible effects on the frozen stored eggs and embryo tissues. Impact. When the reporter of China New Singapore Jingwei asked whether the aforementioned intermediary had risk protection, the intermediary said, "Similar risks are generally not encountered. If there is no protection, because the hospital will sign an exemption agreement, there is no way to meet it."

　　During the interview, some intermediaries revealed to reporters that at present, some top three hospitals in China can also perform frozen egg surgery for single women, which cost about 80,000 yuan, but they did not disclose the specific hospital name. "This is through scientific research channels, both single and married can be done, but there are only 5 places per month."

　　There are also some travel websites targeting this market. On April 13, 2017, the "American Frozen Egg Tour" product was launched for the first time on a travel website APP and website. The product is divided into two types: hot spring convalescence and girlfriends. The trip is 7 days, and the price is up to 218888. yuan.

Expert: Domestic unmarried frozen egg tract is blocked and long

　　In December last year, the nation’s first case of single women fighting for frozen eggs was openly heard at the Chaoyang District People’s Court in Beijing. The equality of single women’s reproductive rights has aroused widespread concern. According to the party Xu Zaozao (pseudonym), on November 14, 2018, she went to the Reproductive Department of the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital affiliated to the Capital Medical University to consult about frozen eggs, and confirmed that the body was normal and the eggs were healthy through relevant examinations. The demand for eggs was rejected because the marriage certificate could not be provided. The doctor said at the time that the hospital could not provide frozen egg services for single women. To this end, Xu Zaozao took the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University to court. In the indictment, she said that the plaintiff, as an adult woman over the age of 30, had the willingness to take out the eggs most suitable for her childbearing stage at this stage and freeze them.

　　In an interview with Sino-Singapore Jingwei client, He Yizhi, a lawyer from Shanghai Fapu Law Firm, said that in accordance with China’s existing regulations, institutions implementing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer and their derivative technologies must comply with China’s population and family planning laws and regulations. The regulations only allow the implementation of related assisted reproductive technology for eligible couples, so single women still cannot find a formal institution in the country willing to implement frozen egg technology for them.

　　According to the "Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Code" revised in 2003, it is prohibited to implement human assisted reproductive technology for couples and single women who do not meet the requirements of the national population and family planning laws and regulations. But at present, China does not prohibit women from going overseas to freeze eggs.

　　He Yizhi pointed out that frozen eggs of unmarried women go abroad to a certain extent, which reflects the awareness of women’s independence and autonomy in my country to a new level, but it does not rule out some of them who blindly pursue new things. Although the opening of frozen eggs will indeed help some single women with actual fertility needs to some extent, it is also easy to breed illegal crimes, such as the sale of eggs and illegal surrogacy. Reproductive rights have serious negative effects. In addition, according to my country's existing laws and regulations, the "birth rights" are mainly for married couples, and the protection of the reproductive rights of unmarried people is still in a blank stage.

　　"To sum up, as far as our country's current policies and regulations are concerned, the opening of single women's frozen egg tracts is long and long, and the first issue that may need to be resolved is the difficulty of single pregnant women in handling prospective birth certificates." He Yizhi added.

　　In this regard, Guo Xiaoming also believes that in the current situation, opening frozen eggs is not necessarily the best choice. However, in the future, relevant laws should give full consideration to respecting women’s reproductive rights, allowing unmarried frozen eggs, and at the same time clarifying the technical specifications of frozen eggs, clarifying the process mechanisms of auditing, supervision, and responsibility for medical institutions implementing frozen egg technology, and severely sanctioning the use of frozen eggs Technically engaging in illegal and criminal activities. Not only that, but also need to further clarify the legal rights and obligations of parents, children and other close relatives after the implementation of unmarried frozen egg technology.

　　Ctrip's co-founder and chairman of the executive board, Liang Jianzhang, also previously wrote that almost all women, although unwilling to marry, are eager to become mothers. Supporting single women should enjoy the right to freeze eggs, but this does not mean that we advocate or encourage single women to freeze eggs. After all, freezing eggs is also a kind of surgery and requires certain financial investment. In addition, some women may have a misconception that they regret the frozen egg anyway, so they are not in a hurry to give birth, which has delayed the birth time again and again. It believes that if a woman with conditions is better to try to get pregnant and give birth naturally before the age of 35. For those who have no conditions, they should also respect their right to increase fertility opportunities through frozen eggs and other assisted reproduction techniques. (Sino-Singapore Jingwei app)

　　(At the request of the interviewee, Lin Shan, Zhao Xingxuan, Amy and Linda are pseudonyms)

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