Discovered culture dishes with marked names on site... Video announcement! Shenzhen destroys an illegal surrogacy center

In 2021, law enforcement officers from the Longhua District Health Supervision Office in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, discovered through undercover investigations that there were suspected illegal surrogacy activities such as egg retrieval and embryo transfer in a residential area of Meihua Mountain Villa. The person in charge at the scene falsely claimed to be a cleaner and pretended to be deaf and mute to the medical equipment and drugs discovered.

In a 5-story villa in Shenzhen

Surprisingly appearing in the operating room

This is a 5-story villa from the basement to the top floor. Law enforcement officers from the Longhua District Health Supervision Office in Shenzhen found some liquid nitrogen and gas tanks in the warehouse.

Law enforcement officers conducted an on-site inspection and found that the room on the second floor was suspected to be a packing and cleaning room, with cleaned surgical gowns hanging inside. The surgical bag on the table contained instruments such as vaginal dilators, surgical trays, and forceps.

There is a laboratory and operating room on the third floor, connected by transfer windows for egg retrieval and embryo transfer.

Two desktop incubators were found in the laboratory that were powered on, with four or five culture dishes labeled with different names inside.

Outside the laboratory, there is a liquid nitrogen tank where more than ten EP tubes with different names can be seen being taken out.

Medical waste such as oocyte collectors and syringes contaminated with liquid were also found in the operating room.

According to the certification of health supervision law enforcement personnel and experts in assisted reproductive technology, the drugs, equipment, and instruments discovered on site are all used for surrogacy activities such as egg retrieval and embryo transfer.

The person in charge impersonates the janitor

Faced with questioning, pretending to be deaf and mute

Among the seven individuals involved in the case at the scene, six were women and one was male, all of whom identified another male named "Lao Liu" as arranging work.

However, "Lao Liu" faced the inquiry and claimed that he was just a cleaner at the venue. He replied to the medical equipment and drugs discovered by "pretending to be deaf and mute" or "I don't know".

Confiscate mobile phones and cover car windows

There is a dedicated person to pick up and drop off at the surrogacy site

After further investigation, law enforcement officers confirmed the identities of six women at the scene, namely "surrogate mother", "egg sister", a client preparing for embryo implantation, laboratory operators, and two nurses.

And the real name of "Lao Liu" is Chen, who is the actual operation and management personnel of the venue. He admits that renting this villa is for carrying out surrogacy activities. In addition, there is a driver responsible for driving and picking up "surrogate mother", "egg sister" and others.

Law enforcement officers learned that the vehicles being transported were all decorated, with black curtains installed on their windows. When they got on the car, they knew nothing about the scene outside, and the staff at the surrogacy center would take away their phones.

Successfully dismantled illegal surrogacy team

In the end, due to Chen's unauthorized practice of human assisted reproductive technology in a place without obtaining a medical institution practice license, the health supervision department imposed an administrative penalty of confiscating his illegal gains and related drugs and equipment, and imposing a fine in accordance with the law. In addition, corresponding administrative penalties were imposed on other medical personnel involved in the case.

Citizens should not trust or engage in so-called "overseas surrogacy" services to evade China's prohibitive regulations. Otherwise, they may not only suffer serious economic losses but also lack legal protection. In serious cases, relevant institutions and personnel may also commit crimes and receive corresponding punishments.

Source: Yangcheng Evening News Comprehensive Southern Urban Daily, Shenzhen Longhua District Health Supervision Institute, Guangdong Health Supervision