Crackdown begins on illegal reproductive clinics

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The Beijing Health Bureau raided a clinic illegally offering assisted reproductive services in Dongcheng district on Monday.

It was the opening of a yearlong campaign in the city to crack down on illegal assisted reproduction, which comes in response to a nationwide campaign to overhaul the assisted reproduction industry launched by the National Health and Family Planning Commission in February.

Zhong Dongbo, deputy chief of the bureau, said anyone can report illegal services by calling 12320 or by writing to the bureau on its website.

In China, hospitals are not allowed to offer assisted reproductive services unless qualified by provincial health authorities. There are 16 hospitals, including two private hospitals, in Beijing allowed to offer such services.

Each of the hospitals is strictly restricted to certain fields. For example, some can only do artificial insemination, while others are allowed to conduct external insemination and embryo transfers.

What's more, these hospitals are not allowed to offer surrogacy services, according to the Regulations on Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Management issued by the former ministry of health in 2001.

The clinic in Dongcheng district, which was registered to offer only cosmetic medical services, has not only exceeded its scope of business, but also breached the regulations by offering surrogacy, said the bureau.

China Central Television reported that the clinic charged 1 million yuan ($161,000) for successfully assisting the birth of a baby, and more if one wants to have boys.

It also offered gender diagnosis to guarantee that surrogate mothers give birth to boys if they wanted, which is prohibited by China's health authorities.

A clinic may face criminal charges and lose its license if it seriously violates the regulations, according to Lu Ming, head of the bureau's medical policy department.

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Emily Cheng is an editor at China Daily. She was born in Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Sydney with a degree in Media, English Literature and Politics. She has worked in the media industry since starting university and this is the third time she has settled abroad - she interned with a magazine in Hong Kong 2007 and studied at the University of Leeds in 2009.