Three years ago Mr and Mrs Lee (李) fulfilled their dream of parenthood with the help of a surrogate mother. However, like many Taiwanese couples who cannot have a child naturally, they sought surrogacy abroad because the procedure is illegal at home.
“Healthy couples cannot imagine the difficulty and pain we have been through. We tried everything we could,” said Lee, a 40-year-old businessman in Taipei who did not wish to give his full name.
Lee and his 35-year-old wife also considered adoption.
Photo: AFP
“However, since there was still a way we could have our own child, surrogacy was the best option,” he said.
“We envied other couples who have children and we finally felt that our lives were complete when our son was born,” he said.
A bill to legalize altruistic surrogacy — in which a woman agrees to carry a child for another couple through in vitro fertilization without financially profiting from the procedure — remains in limbo in Taiwan, forcing couples like the Lees into the global commercial surrogacy market.
The country is divided over the controversial and sensitive issue, which presents a legal and ethical minefield for experts who have failed to agree on issues such as the rights of the surrogate mother, the biological parents and the fetus.
Those who broker or gain financially from embryo reproduction face a possible two-year jail term, although there is no penalty for those who pay for it, according to prosecutors.
The legality of surrogacy varies widely around the world, particularly in Asia, where for-profit surrogacy services are prohibited in many countries.
One exception is India, where the government is in the process of passing laws to regulate a fertility industry that offers foreign couples cheaper alternatives to options such as having to travel to the US or Britain to find a surrogate mother.
Altruistic surrogacy options are legally available in Australia, subject to strict screening processes. China prohibits surrogacy, while Japan, South Korea and Thailand have no laws determining the rights of participants.
Taiwan’s health authorities first contemplated legalizing surrogacy about a decade ago and drafted a bill in 2005, but there has been no real progress since then.
“In light of the demand for reproductive technology, as well as some ethical concerns from society, the bureau has been promoting discussions at home and following international experiences in order to come up with a bill that is thorough, while meeting the demands of our time,” the Bureau of Health Promotion said in a statement.
Opposition comes from women’s rights groups, who say surrogacy satisfies the needs of wealthy couples, but overlooks the health risks and emotional impact on surrogate mothers during and after the pregnancy.
A surrogacy procedure can cost from about US$55,000 in Thailand to US$100,000 in the US, including medical and legal expenses, and payments to surrogate mothers, according to fertility experts.
“A woman’s body is not a commodity or a tool. We oppose rich people exploiting poor women and buying them as surrogate mothers,” said Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英), chairperson of the advocacy group Taiwan Women’s Link.
She urges couples to reconsider the traditional concept of producing an heir and “open up their minds” to other possibilities, such as adopting orphans.
“Traditionally a couple would need to have a son to continue the family line, but what if a surrogate mother doesn’t bear a son? I don’t think technology can resolve a cultural issue,” she said.
The Lees say they hired their surrogate mother in Thailand on mutually agreed terms.
“We didn’t force her to become a surrogate mother, she wanted to make money out of her own free will. I don’t think it demeans her in any way,” Mr Lee said.
Demand for infertility treatment has been on the rise in Taiwan, which has one of the world’s lowest birth rates, partly as more couples choose to get married and have babies at a later age, doctors say.
Last year, the average age of Taiwanese women who gave birth for the first time was 30.1 years, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
Estimates of the number of Taiwanese couples seeking surrogacy range from anywhere between several hundred to tens of thousands.
Liu Ji-ong, a fertility expert in Taipei, said surrogacy is the only option for many women with underlying medical conditions.
“I think it is a question of social justice. We cannot neglect the needs of those women who want to be mothers, as they are unlikely to speak up for themselves or take to the streets to protest,” he said.
Lee said he only hopes that if the surrogacy bill is passed, it recognizes previous cases. Currently he can only register his son as his child born out of wedlock, while his wife is recognized as the “adoptive mother.”
However, he said he doubts that Taiwan will see real progress on the issue in the short term.
“It is not a major concern for Taiwanese politicians because there are just not enough votes [in it] for them,” he said.
Asked about the chances of Taiwan passing a surrogacy bill any time soon, he said: “I am not optimistic.”
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RSS