Wealthy Chinese Seek American-Born “Designer Babies”

What’s the Latest Development?

A growing number of wealthy Chinese couples are turning to agencies to help match them with an American-born surrogate, who will carry and eventually bear a child on American soil. When that child, a natural-born citizen, turns 21, they can apply for permanent residency for the parents, allowing the entire family to emigrate to the US. At between $120,000 and $200,000, the “surrogacy packages” offered by the agencies are a cheaper way to enter the US than the EB-5 visa route, which requires a minimum business investment of $500,000.

What’s the Big Idea?

Surrogacy is illegal in China, and the country’s one-child policy continues to limit family sizes even among the wealthy. Though it’s not clear how many couples are going the American route, enough are doing it such that even fertility clinics and surrogacy agencies in the US are beginning to market to potential Chinese customers. While most are using their own eggs and sperm to create a child that is biologically theirs, some seek to create a “designer baby” by requesting, for example, ethnically-Chinese egg donors with Ivy League degrees.

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Read it at International Business Times