A man in China brought home a surrogate baby one year after the death of his wife in order to claim her inheritance. -- Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock
SHANGHAI (SCMP): A man in China took a baby home a year after his wife died, claiming it was born through surrogacy with her consent to claim a share of her estate.
The case, handled by a Shanghai court, captivated public attention.
The wife, surnamed Qiu, passed away in 2021 from an unidentified connective tissue illness and cancer. She and her husband, identified as Lin, did not have any children before her passing, according to the Jiefang Daily.
The couple’s joint property included two flats in Shanghai and bank savings, the exact amount of which was not disclosed in the news report.
According to the law, Qiu’s estate should be divided between Lin and her octogenarian parents. Her parents are her foster parents, as they were unable to have biological children due to their health issues.
More women struggling with infertility are turning to surrogacy. -- Photo: Shutterstock
In 2022, Lin informed Qiu’s foster mother that part of his wife’s inheritance should be allocated to a surrogate baby, whose gender has not been revealed.
He claimed that he and Qiu had previously contacted an overseas agency in hopes of having a baby through surrogacy.
Qiu’s mother rejected the claim regarding the baby and expressed doubts about its identity.
She stated that medical documents indicated Lin was the biological father of the baby, but no evidence confirmed the identity of the mother.
According to Qiu’s foster mother, her daughter was not a suitable candidate for an egg extraction procedure due to multiple health conditions and long-term medication use.
Additionally, the mother had never heard her daughter discuss preparations for such a procedure.
The court could not verify the baby’s biological relationship to the deceased, as her parents are not blood relatives and her body was cremated. -- Photo: Shutterstock
China prohibits any surrogacy-related activities within its borders. However, children born through surrogacy have the same inheritance rights as those conceived naturally.
The court that heard the case this year stated it could not verify the biological relationship between the baby and the deceased, as Qiu’s parents are not her biological relatives and her body was cremated after her death.
The court also found Lin’s statements to be riddled with contradictions. He claimed that Qiu travelled to Thailand for egg extraction in 2016, but border authorities had no record of her travelling there that year.
He presented several documents indicating that Qiu underwent medical check-ups, but the dates on these documents were after her death.
Ultimately, the court concluded that Qiu is not the biological mother of the baby, and therefore the infant is not entitled to inherit her estate. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
