500 men sign up for male-pregnancy project in China

Asian Economic News, May 27, 2002

HONG KONG, May 23 Kyodo

About 500 men have signed up to take part in China's first male-pregnancy project, a Hong Kong newspaper reported Thursday.

Only four men have been chosen as suitable candidates for the project, which has yet to be officially authorized, the plan's initiator Chen Huanran was quoted as saying by the Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po in Hong Kong.

Chen, a top sex-change surgeon in China, reportedly said there will be few problems for men to get pregnant technically. But he said men will have to experience more pain and risk physically and psychologically than women do in bearing a child.

Chen, who runs China's first sex-change center under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, began planning the ''male mothers'' project in 2000 and has sought for participants in the program through the Internet since last November, the report said.

The report said participants will need 200,000 yuan (about $24,200) to pay their own operation fees.

They should also possess a strong desire to have a child with their genetic factors and features, and must fully understand and be willing to take the risks, the newspaper said.

Yet, Chen expected it will take a long time before the Chinese authorities approve his project.

The professor reportedly said he has already hired lawyers to tackle the possible legal problems involved, adding that he will not abandon his plan due to legal obstacles.

''The law always lags behind,'' Chen was quoted as saying by the paper. ''As long as it does not violate the present legal framework, we can go ahead with the project.''