World Journal, News Report, Posted: Nov 16, 2011

Black Market for Human Eggs Grows in China
  
An underground trade in human eggs from female students at prestigious universities is emerging in China, reports the World Journal.

The article notes that while profiting from the sale of human eggs is illegal in China, there are a growing number of private collection agencies offering substantial sums to donors as well as to women willing to act as surrogate mothers.

One such is Beijing’s Sunny Surrogate Mother Agency, which, according to the World Journal, describes itself as a charity organization helping infertile women become mothers, and students from low-income families cover the cost of tuition.

The reports says clients looking to purchase an egg will pay anywhere from $8,000 to $15,000, with additional fees if they request a surrogate mother. Donors receive between $6,000 and $12,000, it adds, while middlemen responsible for locating them are paid upwards of $2,000.

The practice has become so widespread that agencies are now moving beyond China’s borders, sending eggs to Hong Kong, Thailand, and the United States, among other countries, to be later inseminated. The article notes part of the reason for this is that clients and agents are seeking a more “risk-free” environment for the procedure.

According to one individual identified as Wang, who specializes in arranging for the sale of a donor’s eggs, large agencies offer package deals, sending the surrogate mother abroad to countries including the United States. Clients, he says, pay up to $150,000 for such services, which include procuring a visa and a driver’s license.