BEIJING: China's two child policy has prompted a surge in demand for fertility treatment among older women, as they break past former reservations on the issue. Parents who have long wanted a second child are resorting to vitro fertilisation as the government pulls away their strict population control policy.
"More and more women are coming to ask to have their second child," said Dr Liu Jiaen. He estimated the numbers of women coming to his clinic for IVF had risen by 20 per cent since the policy was relaxed. Before, the average age of his patients used to be around 35. Now most of them are older than 40 and some of the women are fast approaching 50, according to him. "They have a very low chance to get pregnant so they are in a hurry. They really want to have a child as soon as possible," he said.
The country's health commission's Women and Children Department released a statement saying the demand for all types of fertility treatment had rised following the policy relaxation, which includes the use of traditional Chinese medicine. "Currently, fertility centers at renowned medical organisations in Beijing and Shanghai and others are under increased pressure for treatments," the department said. The new policy has also strained China's sperm banks which anyways suffer shortages due to reluctance of donation by Chinese men. "The relaxing of the one-child policy certainly gave an impetus to the demand for sperm as more women, usually aged around or above 35, came for assistance," said Zhang Xinzong, director of Guangdong Sperm Bank in south China.
People have even called out for a loosening of the country's adoption law, which currently states only couples with no children can adopt, allowing couples with one child to adopt a disabled child.
