BEIJING, April 11 (UPI) -- China has explained its ban on surrogate pregnancies and the sale of human eggs and sperm, calling the practices abuses of assisted reproductive technology.
The Ministry of Health specifically banned the commercialization and industrialization of the technology in rules released in February, designed to stamp out surrogate pregnancies, the South China Morning Post reported Tuesday.
A ministry spokesman said the technology could be applied only to people unable to bear a child because of disease.
Though the new rules prescribe that medical institutions and staff abusing the technology to assist surrogate pregnancies face fines up to $3,748, the practice has been popular in China.
Peking Union Medical College bioethics expert Zhai Xiaomei said intermediary agencies offering surrogates had boomed via the Internet.
But Zhai questioned such companies' legitimacy, as only a few medical institutions have the technology to perform surrogate pregnancies.
"The other possibility, I'm afraid, is that in many cases the pregnancies facilitated through intermediary services occur through sexual contact, which can lead to an even bigger mess.
"The current market chaos is a result of the ban to some degree because (childless couples) seek solutions from any channel they can," said Zhai.
