Surrogate Mothers Offer Wealthy Chinese a U.S. Foothold
Companies are springing up in China and the United States that enable the Chinese elite to hire American women to serve as surrogate mothers, Reuters news agency reports. The children born to surrogate mothers are eligible for US citizenship and will later be able to sponsor their Chinese parents for Legal Permanent Residency.
The fees involved ostensibly limit surrogacy to the wealthy citizens of China or any nation. The surrogate mother is normally paid a minimum of $22,000. U.S.-based surrogacy companies charge at least $30,000 for coordinating matters, although fees can be higher if prenatal care and delivery costs are included. Chinese-based companies charge higher fees, usually between $120,000 and $200,000. As one Shanghai-based agent said, "if you add in plane tickets and other expenses, for only $300,000, you get two children and the entire family can emigrate to the U.S."
There are no data on the number of Chinese who use U.S. surrogates, but surrogate companies in both countries say requests have increased significantly over the last two years. John Weltman, the president of Boston-based Circle Surrogacy, said, "I would be surprised if you called me back in four months and (the) number hadn't doubled. That's the level of interest we've seen this year from China and the very serious conversation we've had with people who I think will be joining us in the next three or four months."
A number of U.S.-based surrogacy companies now host Chinese-language websites to facilitate business. One U.S.-based company says that around 60% of their 140 clients are from abroad. That company will soon open a branch in California to better serve Asian clients and may start one in Shanghai as well.
Business is flourishing for Chinese-based companies, too. One Shanghai businessman used an American surrogate mother to have his first child in 2010. The man set up his own surrogacy agency in 2012 after repeated requests for help from his friends. At least one Chinese company markets surrogacy as a less expensive alternative to the U.S. EB-5 visa, which offers Legal Permanent Residency in the U.S. for a $500,000 minimum investment in a job-creating U.S. business.
Surrogacy adds a new twist on the birthright citizenship loophole under the 14th Amendment. Maternity hotels had become a popular option for expectant Chinese mothers with the means to travel to the U.S. but some localities cracked down on the practice. Still, giving birth in America became so commonplace that it was the subject of a romantic comedy movie released in China this year called "Finding Mr Right."
Statistics show that the number of Chinese visitors to the United States nearly doubled in recent years, from 1 million in 2010 to 1.8 million in 2012.
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