Health authorities in China announced a crackdown on the surrogacy business earlier this month, stating that the practice upsets the natural order of childbirth.The past year has seen a number of reports on the rise in popularity for surrogacy, a practice where a woman gives birth to another woman's child.The health commission said that regulators will ban any businesses involved in the practice of surrogacy.Prior to this, hospitals were already prohibited from assisting in surrogate pregnancies.Regulators said newspapers and other forms of media will be required to remove all surrogacy advertising from their publications and sites, and authorities will also block Internet content on these businesses.In China, a demand for surrogacy services has grown with higher infertility rates.According to the China Woman and Child Development Center and the China Population Association, in 2012 some 12 percent of women of child-bearing age were infertile, while the two decades earlier the figure was only at 3 percent.For Caixin Online, this is Diana Bates.
