Single women seek foreign sperm

Xiaogunzhu is one of an increasing number of affluent single women in China seeking a child, but not a husband.

Looking at page after page of childhood photographs, Xiaogunzhu, 39, was drawn to an image of a French-Irish boy with smiling dark blue eyes.

But she was not admiring her lover’s family album, she was browsing a catalogue of potential sperm donors.

In China unmarried women are largely barred from accessing sperm banks and in-vitro fertilisation treatment, forcing them to seek options abroad.

Her choice made – donor #14471 on the website of a Californian sperm bank – Xiaogunzhu flew to the US to begin the first rounds of treatment.

“There are many women who won’t get married, so they might not fulfil this fundamental biological mission,” Xiaogunzhu said. “But I felt another path had opened up.”

Her baby, who is now nine months old, is called Oscar after a character in a comic about the French revolution – in a nod to the donor’s French ancestry.

The marriage rate in China has been in decline over the last five years. Last year, only 7.2 out of 1 000 people got married.

Educated professional women face “discrimination” when seeking spouses, said sociologist Sandy To.

This because their male partners often have “difficulty accepting their higher educational or economic accomplishments”.

Xiaogunzhu believes a father isn’t necessary for her new family – her own was controlling and often angry.

But the journey she is on is neither cheap nor easy.

Conceiving a child through a foreign sperm bank starts from 200 000 yuan (about R400 000) and can end up much higher. –