{"text":[[{"start":7.7,"text":"For 25-year-old Chinese entrepreneur Kitty Sheng, the physical and professional cost of pregnancy seems so high that she would rather have a baby via a foreign surrogate."}],[{"start":17.45,"text":"The beauty entrepreneur from Hangzhou says pregnancy would “impact my work and appearance”, as she detailed plans to travel to the country of Georgia next year to find a surrogate. "}],[{"start":27.95,"text":"“If I remain unmarried, I will have to bear all the costs of pregnancy and post-partum recovery myself, and that really isn’t very different from the cost of having a child through surrogacy,” she said. "}],[{"start":39.45,"text":"With surrogacy illegal in China, an industry of agencies, consultants and fertility clinics has emerged to connect clients with women overseas willing to carry their children. While there is no data on the number of children born to Chinese parents via surrogacy, a recent study showed nearly a third of intended parents for surrogate babies in the US were international and some 40 per cent of those were from China. "}],[{"start":63.95,"text":"Early demand largely came from couples struggling with fertility. But there was growing interest from younger women physically capable of becoming pregnant but reluctant to accept its impact on their bodies and careers, said consultants, clients and doctors interviewed by the FT. "}],[{"start":80.05000000000001,"text":"“The ‘motherhood penalty’ persists over a long period in China,” said Lu Pin, a Chinese women’s rights activist based in New York. “The fear is well founded and a product of how the environment works against women in both public and private lives.”"}],[{"start":95.05000000000001,"text":"Wealthy Chinese people tend to opt for the US for surrogacy, attracted by its advanced medical facilities, strong legal protections for the parents and the prospect of an American passport for their child. The bill can be as much as $300,000. US President Donald Trump has sought to stop children born via surrogacy to foreign parents having the right to birthright citizenship in an executive order issued in August, after a first attempt to curtail the right was struck down by the Supreme Court. "}],[{"start":125.00000000000001,"text":"Other destinations include Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, where packages can cost as little as $63,000. "}],[{"start":132.20000000000002,"text":"The demand for surrogacy hinted at the underlying cultural and professional reasons for birth hesitancy among women, experts said. China last year registered its lowest number of births since records began, marking the fourth consecutive year of population decline. "}],[{"start":146.55,"text":"Demographers estimated that the average age a woman had her first child was 28.6 in 2024, up from 24.3 in 2006. Women in more affluent cities had babies later than rural counterparts, with the average age in Shanghai at 31.8. "}],[{"start":164.8,"text":"Experts also described increased demand from younger women unwilling to accept the impact on their bodies and careers."}],[{"start":172.5,"text":"Dr Xiao Yi, a traditional Chinese medicine doctor at a Beijing-based hospital specialising in fertility, said she had seen a “very clear increase among patients who are fearful of getting pregnant and giving birth”. "}],[{"start":184.7,"text":"“Chinese women worry about how it will impact their appearance and whether they can return to their normal weight and womb health,” she said. These fears were echoed by several women who spoke to the FT about their reluctance to get pregnant. "}],[{"start":198.7,"text":"A salesperson at a leading California-based fertility agency described a rise in the number of enquiries from single men and women. “They may not want to enter marriage, but they still want to become mothers and fathers,” the person said."}],[{"start":211.14999999999998,"text":"For some younger Chinese people, the decision is also being underwritten by their parents. Several people who spoke to the FT said their own parents had offered to pay for surrogacy, seeing it as a way to secure grandchildren despite their children’s reluctance to marry or go through pregnancy themselves."}],[{"start":228.99999999999997,"text":"That bargain reflects the unusually large role grandparents already play in raising children in China, where they frequently move in with their adult children or take on much of the day-to-day childcare. "}],[{"start":239.59999999999997,"text":"One couple, finance workers from Beijing who declined to be named, said they were the first among their friends to pursue surrogacy in the US. “We have more and more friends going through this journey,” said the husband."}],[{"start":250.99999999999997,"text":"The couple opted for surrogacy because the wife was reluctant to go through pregnancy and childbirth. “I didn’t want to give birth to a baby. It’s a risk to your body and health and you hear about crazy stories about the side effects for women giving birth,” she said. "}],[{"start":266.9,"text":"For Sheng, the logic for using a surrogate is unimpeachable. “Whether it’s the fact that my career is in a growth phase, that I care about my appearance, or that I don’t want to get married — those are all considerations for myself,” she said. "}],[{"start":287.3,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1791098355_2713.mp3"}