July 23, 2022, 9:40 AM
July 23, 2022, 9:40 AM
A Chinese woman who wanted to freeze her oocytes (immature precursor of the ovum) was rejected by a Beijing court, claiming that she is singleas the use of this method is reserved in China only for married women.
Xu Zaozao’s request, rare in the country, was widely reported in the media Chinese, since women’s rights are becoming more and more news in recent years.
Oocyte freezing is intended to preserve fertility. It consists of extracting the oocytes and then freezing them in liquid nitrogen for a subsequent pregnancy.
This method is traditionally used for medical reasons, to help procreation. But, with the extension of the studies, it is used more and more all over the world for personal convenience, in order to delay having a child.
In 2018, at the age of 30, Xu Zaozao tried to freeze her oocytes in a hospital in Beijing. Faced with the latter’s refusal, he initiated legal action the following year.
However, only married and infertile couples have access to this procedure in China.
The hospital’s refusal had “no illegal character” and “does not constitute a violation of the rights” of the plaintiff, who is “rejected”, said the people’s court of the Beijing district of Chaoyang in a ruling made public on Friday by the young woman. .
“It cannot be said that it is a serious blow for the reproductive rights of single women. Just a little temporary hiccup“Xu Zaozao commented in a video posted on the WeChat social network.
The young woman plans to appeal. “I’m not going to let this end like this“, it states.
According to the sentence, the hospital declared that it “understood” the plaintiff, but that it had to apply the law.
Oocyte freezing is only possible for women who cannot get pregnant naturally, and not for healthy patients, the establishment said.
