Single women have the right to give birth

Two micro blogs posted by popular writer Han Han questioning the country's tight regulation on egg-freezing services for unmarried women have sparked an online uproar.

That more people are paying attention to the problem of women wishing to become single mothers is not a bad thing, especially when the reproductive rights of unmarried women have become a social reality that needs attention. With greater economic independence, women in China today can survive and thrive without men or marriage. Yet if any of them wants to remain single and, at the same time, become a mother, she cannot do so, because an article in the Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation, issued by the National Health and Family Planning Commission in 2003, says it is prohibited to use assisted reproductive technology on couples not complying with the family planning policy or on unmarried women.

Although the regulation does not clearly define egg freezing as assisted reproductive technology, a single woman cannot give birth because she cannot furnish a marriage certificate, which apart from a valid reproduction permit and identity card is mandatory for the purpose, to the medical authorities.