Xu Yancheng delivers bundles of joy to many couples but is a criminal in the eyes of the law. His business is renting the wombs of young women so infertile couples can have children. He finds healthy women for more than 30 couples each month and around half of them become pregnant.

The Beijing-based agent for surrogate mothers has seen a boom in his business over the past year despite the government reiterating last April that the abuse of assisted reproductive technology that involves surrogacy and the sale of eggs and sperm were banned.

"I'm satisfied with the money but I'm more satisfied with the couples' gratitude the moment I hand them the babies," Xu (not his real name) said yesterday. "I change their destinies and in their eyes I'm a savior."

Xu, who has approximately 20 assistants working for him around China, is only one of the many such agents who've set up websites in the past few years. Demand for surrogate mothers is driven by well-to-do Chinese and foreigners.

A pioneer in the business, Xu who started his website in January 2004 said he provides rich customers with "high-quality" surrogate mothers. "Most of my customers are well-educated. They are the elite of our society," he claimed.

Around 10 foreigners married to Chinese have also used his services to obtain babies, Xu said.

A couple has to pay at least 200,000 yuan (US$25,788) including the surrogate mother's fees and expenses during pregnancy as well as the agent's commission. And the price goes up if the woman is attractive or has a good education. A college graduate can get at least 50,000 yuan (US$6,447) more.

Xu claimed he doesn't have much difficulty finding women with college degrees. "In a tight employment market pregnancy is not as difficult as job-hunting," he said.

The procedure is simple. The clients meet the surrogate mother, pay a deposit and the balance after childbirth. Pregnancy is through in vitro fertilization. There are no reliable figures on how widespread the practice is.

All those involved in such pregnancies are violating the law, said Shen Zheng, law professor at the Beijing-based China University of Political Science and Law.

(China Daily February 6, 2007)