Xu Zaozao’s fight for egg cryopreservation (which is forbidden for single women in China)

Cryopreservation of oocytes is an opportunity for women to preserve their fertility. It is a right that has been acquired. But not in China, where this technique is reserved, by law, only for married couples with fertility problems.

A Chinese woman, Xu Zaozao, is fighting a legal battle to assert what she believes is her right and to expand access to fertility treatments in China. However, the obstacles she faces seem, at least for now, still insurmountable.

The Beijing People’s Court ruled that her rights were not violated when Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital refused to freeze her eggs in 2018. Xu Zaozao, who is now 36 years old, had broken up with her boyfriend, and was aware thatdespite not being married and not wanting to put her career on hold, one day he wanted to have children. But the doctor dismissed her with questionable advice: “Hurry up, get married and have children now.” And she sued the hospital, claiming that its refusal to freeze her eggs violated her rights fundamental.

Now, nearly five years after she went to court, Xu Zaozao has lost her final appeal. “I was mentally prepared. This outcome was not that unexpected,” she explained. But “regardless of the outcome, I am proud of what we have done,” she said in a video posted on social media. Her case has attracted widespread attention: Xu Zaozao is considered a pioneering feminist. “From a social perspective, single women do not conform to traditional family values,” explains Li Maizi, a Chinese gender equality activist. “But how first person in China to dare to challenge this unreasonable policyXu Zaozao has successfully brought the issue of egg freezing and assisted reproduction for single women to the public’s attention, making it a social problem.”

The China’s birth rate has plummeted (dropped below 1.2 per woman) and the number of Chinese single-person households increased from 8.3% in 2000 to 25.4% in 2020:The government is proposing incentives for women and familiesso they can have more children. Several provinces have also started subsidizing IVF treatment for couples through basic health insurance, and the government has promised to increase the number of facilities where they can access the treatment across the country. But all these incentives are reserved for married heterosexual couples. So, many single Chinese women have to go abroad for the cryopreservation of oocytes. However There are no restrictions for men who want to freeze their sperm.

But Xu has not thrown in the towel: “Losing in the second trial is not the end of the story. I will continue to keep an eye on the issue of single women’s right to freeze their eggs and I will seek advice from a wide range of professionalsincluding academics and lawyers, to proactively formulate a strategy for the next step.”