A doctor opens a liquid nitrogen storage container for sperm or eggs at the assisted reproductive medicine center of Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital in the southwestern city of Chengdu. Photo: VCG
Three political advisors in Shanghai proposed to set up a public frozen egg bank in a pilot exploration scheme to help women in need, especially cancer patients who might lose fertility after receiving medical treatment.
Qiu Suo, a lawyer from AllBright Law Offices who also serves as a member of the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the city's top political advisory body, put forward a proposal during Shanghai's two sessions this year alongside two other political advisors to set up a public egg bank in the Lingang Special Area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone.
As a professional woman who gave birth at an advanced maternal age, Qiu felt sorry for so many elite women who devote their best years to their careers and lose the opportunity to be mothers.
According to a notification on regulating the assisted reproductive technology (ART) service released by Shanghai's health authority in 2013, egg freezing services can only be provided to couples with a history of infertility and cancer patients who expect to preserve their fertility before undergoing surgery or chemotherapy.
According to Qiu, despite the survival rate of cancer patients significantly increasing, the inevitable radiation and toxicity of radiotherapy and chemotherapy harm women's reproductive functions. Given that cancer has become more common in younger people over the past 10 years, for such women, egg freezing is a valuable option for them to have children themselves.
China does not have a specific frozen egg bank set up right now. Instead, female cancer patients can choose to have their eggs stored at hospitals. However, because cancer treatment can take a long time, eggs can be stored at hospitals for between three and five years, meaning that the current situation might lead to a shortage in storage resources and spaces.
Furthermore, if a cancer patient were to pass away, Chinese law does not include any regulations on who inherits the eggs, which might result in disputes between hospitals and patients.
Based on this, the political advisors suggested setting up a public egg bank and carrying out centralized management on frozen eggs to raise efficiency.
"In many advanced countries, such as the US and Japan, egg freezing has become a standard medical service. It will be convenient for China to carry out exchanges and cooperation in life science and medical researches with advanced countries by setting up an egg bank in Lingang," Qiu noted.