China's Single Women Compelled Abroad for Egg Freezing Amid Social Pressure

At age 30, Yang Li set a three-year deadline for herself to make the decision on whether she wanted children. As time passed and her demanding career in Beijing kept her from contemplating motherhood, at nearly 34 years old, she opted to freeze her eggs.

However, as an unmarried woman in China, Yang encountered a major hurdle: no fertility clinics were permitted to assist single women with egg-freezing services or any form of assisted reproductive technology under the existing policies aiming to boost the country's birth rate. The official rules state that only married individuals suffering from infertility are eligible for such procedures, a fact Yang recalls as she says: “I talked to a doctor, and she told me that if I wanted to freeze my eggs in China, I either needed a husband or had cancer."

After exhausting all local options, Yang sought help abroad. In September of the previous year, she underwent an egg retrieval procedure and subsequent storage process at a clinic in the Czech Republic. The total cost amounted to approximately 25,000 yuan (£2,660), which included ongoing fees for storing her eggs.

Yang is part of a growing segment of educated, urban women who are delaying marriage and motherhood, causing concern among Chinese leaders due to the country's declining birth rate. Last year, China reported an all-time low birth rate at 6.39 per thousand people with a population decrease of almost three million, which has been linked to efforts to foster national rejuvenation under President Xi Jinping's leadership.

China views the practice of "social egg freezing" as contradictory to its goal of enhancing birth rates and thus restricts access to similar services that millions around the world utilize annually. Despite this, determined women like Yang are turning to foreign alternatives. Social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu—a female-centric app with over 200 million users—have become a hub for these women exchanging tips on where and how to seek treatment abroad.

For Yang, her experience was fraugrangling due to the limited availability of practical information regarding this option. She relied heavily on using technology to bypass China's internet restrictions while researching potential clinics overseas. Ultimately, she chose the Czech Republic for its more affordable cost compared to American options and because it allows transportation of frozen eggs for future IVF procedures abroad.

"I am extremely fortunate," Yang said in an interview. "But if I were to do this again, it would undoubtedly be a difficult ordeal."

Another Chinese woman's journey involved traveling to Laos for egg freezing treatment—an experience that she shared on social media to ease her anxiety about future fertility over the next decade. A recent study by economists Ren Zeping and Liang Jianzhang found that more than 65% of women aged between 30-34 years are considering egg freezing as a method for preserving their fertility in the coming years.

Despite this, China's government has not shown any willingness to change its stance on single women accessing egg freezing services. In fact, statements from the national health commission have warned that such practices may offer unrealistic expectations and discourage timely motherhood, which is deemed detrimental to both women's and children's well-being.

Lijin Zhang, a lecturer who specializes in family dynamics within China, believes that demographic challenges will eventually push policymakers to ease these restrictions—though she anticipates this happening gradually rather than as an immediate response. "Without making any big statements about it," Zhang explained, "many provinces are now allowing single women to register their children and some have started granting maternity benefits."

However, for individuals like Yang who face obstacles in accessing egg freezing services due to government policies, the road ahead is still uncertain. A case from 2022 saw a Beijing court ruling against Teresa Xu's lawsuit against a hospital that denied her service based on their restrictive regulations—a verdict she continues to await as an example of how difficult it can be for unmarried, educated women like Yang to pursue their desire for motherhood.