The primary journey Sophia made after Beijing reopened its borders this 12 months was to a clinic in Hong Kong to freeze her eggs. The process, together with different fertility therapies, is just obtainable in mainland China to married girls.

“Through the lockdowns, I felt very lonely for the primary time in my life. I realised I could be single endlessly and wanted to plan my life. Even when I don’t discover a accomplice, I’m certain I wish to have a baby,” stated the 34-year-old tech employee from Shenzhen, considered one of many ladies to move to a clinic within the Chinese language territory seeking fertility remedy.

China faces a bleak demographic outlook because the working-age inhabitants shrinks and the variety of retirees balloons. Final 12 months, the nation’s whole headcount fell by 850,000 folks to 1.41bn as deaths outstripped births for the primary time, a pattern that has pushed policymakers to introduce measures to spice up fertility similar to money handouts for {couples} with a couple of baby.

Some argue that better entry to fertility therapies, similar to egg freezing and in vitro fertilisation (IVF), might enhance the beginning fee by enabling older girls to have youngsters.

However Beijing has lengthy banned entry to egg freezing or IVF for single girls. Whereas single males can freeze their sperm, single girls similar to Sophia, who declined to offer her surname, usually are not allowed to freeze their eggs.

Throughout this month’s assembly of the nation’s prime policymakers, one delegate, a gynaecologist, urged altering the rule, however the proposal shouldn’t be anticipated to realize traction.

Single moms have lengthy been stigmatised in Chinese language tradition and by a communist get together eager to advertise the nuclear household. Till just lately, single moms had been unable to incorporate their youngsters of their family registration, a vital step to unlocking entry to advantages.

China’s prime well being official has stated egg freezing creates an incentive to delay being pregnant, arguing for proscribing entry to the process. “Permitting single girls to freeze their eggs might delay the reproductive age, which isn’t good for the well being of the lady or offspring,” stated the Nationwide Well being Fee (NHC) in response to requires the process to be made accessible for single girls.

However medical specialists cite different components, similar to the will to pursue training or skilled objectives or meet an applicable accomplice, and reject the concept girls who freeze their eggs delay being pregnant.

“There isn’t any proof to point out that ladies delay having youngsters due to the supply of egg freezing. They delay being pregnant for socio-economic and psychological causes,” stated Lucy Lord, an obstetrician and gynaecologist based mostly in Hong Kong.

An official on the Guangdong workplace of the NHC stated legalising egg freezing for single girls could be “troublesome for the federal government” because it “subverts conventional ideas on fertility and household construction”.

Consequently, increasingly more Chinese language girls journey overseas for the process, with Hong Kong a prime vacation spot given its proximity and robust healthcare system.

You might be seeing a snapshot of an interactive graphic. That is most probably on account of being offline or JavaScript being disabled in your browser.

The Instagram-like Chinese language social media app Xiaohongshu is crammed with suggestions for the very best clinics within the metropolis. There are about 20 licensed fertility clinics in Hong Kong.

One administrator at a Hong Kong fertility clinic concentrating on mainland purchasers stated they’d seen a surge in demand after Beijing shed its border controls. Appointments are booked for subsequent month, and the administrator stated the “wait could possibly be even longer as we’re seeing an uptick in appointments”.

Hong Kong fertility clinics cost between HK$80,000 and HK$100,000 (US$10,000-US$13,000) for one spherical of egg freezing. IVF success charges fluctuate extensively in keeping with age. About one-third of girls beneath the age of 35 turn into pregnant after IVF, in keeping with UK figures. Lord added that egg freezing was not a “fail-safe choice” since it’s “harder to get pregnant with a frozen egg”.

Whereas it’s potential for single or homosexual girls to freeze their eggs in Hong Kong, solely married heterosexual {couples} can entry IVF remedy. In follow, which means eggs are saved till girls get married and start the IVF course of.

For some, one other barrier to remedy is the price of travelling to Hong Kong. Si Ma, an workplace employee in her mid-30s in Chengdu, opted to bear the preliminary levels of IVF remedy at an unlawful “underground clinic” well-liked with the town’s queer neighborhood.

Si Ma, who’s bisexual, was launched to the clinic by a pal. “That is unlawful for single folks like me,” she stated. “There are many LGBT individuals who flip to underground clinics or go abroad. The market is far greater than I believed.”

Lü Pin, a Chinese language feminist activist based mostly in New York, is sceptical that China’s coverage will change, saying there’s an ingrained resistance towards giving girls “reproductive autonomy”. “This coverage is in the end about controlling girls’s our bodies,” she stated.

Further reporting by Xueqiao Wang in Shanghai