PRI Insider (Volume 3, Issue 51) December 22
In This Issue: A new report revealed that Chinese nationals hold the highest percentage of foreign surrogacy contracts in the United States. The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinic Outcome Reporting System published a report that compares the demographics of domestic and international intended parents. Chinese nationals fall into the latter category and make up 13.4% of the rent-a-womb industry. The next closest is France at 2.9%. Chinese couples resort to surrogates in the U.S. because of the laws in China banning surrogacy arrangements.
PRI Insider (Volume 3, Issue 50) December 15
In This Issue: A Beijing think tank has stated that children are the most worthy investment Chinese couples can make in the economy. In a policy statement, Yuwa Population Research Institute (no relation to PRI) said an increase in children would “stimulate consumption and expand domestic demand.” It is true that children are society’s key to building a better future. But they should not be compared to investments in infrastructure and manufacturing, nor brought into this world simply for economic purposes.
PRI Insider (Volume 3, Issue 49) December 8
In This Issue: China is cracking down on baby trafficking as more evidence of illegal activity comes to light. Administrators from three separate hospitals have been arrested for forging fake birth certificates for children who are being sold. China’s National Health Commission (NHC) will supposedly begin nationwide checks to put a stop to this wave of crime. Birth certificate forgery has been an issue in China for many years, as it began prior to 2016 when parents were desperate to provide documentation for illegal second and third children. Today, the issue stems from families desperate for children in a country that has falling marriage and birth rates as a result of decades of the one-child policy.
PRI Insider (Volume 3, Issue 48) December 1
In This Issue: According to a recently released scholarly review, one in three women who have an abortion will develop depression as a result. The meta-analysis, published in BMC Psychiatry in October, reviewed 15 studies involving 18,207 post-abortive women globally. This study found that the worldwide prevalence of post-abortion depression is ~34.5%, though up to 85% of women feel depressed following an abortion in some nations. Previous studies have estimated post-abortion depression rates to be as high as 82.1% in high-income nations and 74% in less affluent countries.
PRI Insider (Volume 3, Issue 47) November 24
In This Issue: Last week, a young priest helped two little lives come into the world. Father Jesús Mariscal, the parochial vicar at St. Paul Cathedral in Yakima, Washington, was out for a walk when he heard a homeless woman crying for help. The woman was in active labor and Fr. Mariscal, guided by a 911 operator, delivered her twins on the Cathedral’s grounds. Two small baby boys were born. Fr. Mariscal helped the second one breathe after difficulties with the amniotic sac and umbilical cord. Though the boys were born early, at just 30 weeks, they are doing well. Fr. Mariscal was able to visit them in the hospital, and he continues to ponder what God was trying to tell him through this beautiful experience with new life.
PRI Insider (Volume 3, Issue 46) November 17
In This Issue: Six people have been arrested in central China’s Hubei province over alleged involvement in a baby trafficking ring linked to a hospital in one of the province’s biggest cities. An anti-trafficking volunteer, Shangguan Zhengyi, worked at the hospital undercover for a year and has just announced his findings. With help, the hospital’s director, Ye Youzhi, has been selling birth certificates, brokering the sale of babies, and facilitating surrogacy arrangements, all of which are illegal in China. Zhengyi revealed that a baby girl was sold in September for 118,000 yuan and later registered in Sichuan province. It is unknown how many babies are believed to have been trafficked through the hospital.
