The study aims to review China’s population policy history and draw lessons from the Chinese experience in response to infertility.
Data from the Chinese infertility status survey report and national statistical yearbooks assess the severity of infertility and reproductive centers shortage in China. A review informed lessons from China of existing literature.
The proportion of couples suffering from infertility in China increased to 12.5% from just 6.89% two decades earlier, while the number of reproductive centers was one for every 3.1 million citizens. The total cost per live birth for medically assisted reproduction in Chinese public fertility clinics was 30,000 yuan in 2012. Among infertile couples, unemployed patients accounted for the largest proportion.
The study concluded that it is necessary to integrate the reproductive health care of infertile people into the national public health service. In addition to relieving their economic burden, national policies should guide and support enterprises to guarantee employee medical leave for infertility. Growing numbers of bereaved older women who have lost their only child make it imperative to reconsider liberalizing oocyte donation regulation in China.
Reference: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13625187.2020.1777967
