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A Court In China Has Denied This Woman The Right To Freeze Her Eggs Just Because She's Not Married

The hospital told Theresa Xu it was not possible to proceed without a marriage certificate, and doctors instead encouraged her to have babies while she was still young.

Kassy Cho

Kassy Cho

— 4 min read
A Court In China Has Denied This Woman The Right To Freeze Her Eggs Just Because She's Not Married

A court in China rejected this woman who sued for the right to freeze her eggs because she’s not married.

chinese woman Xu Zaozao eggs freezes controversy
Teresa Xu, also known as Xu Zaozao, arrives at the Beijing Third Intermediate People's Court before a second hearing of her case suing a Beijing hospital for refusing to freeze her eggs on the basis that she is unmarried. (Photo by JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images)

Teresa Xu had decided to freeze her eggs when she was 30 so that she could focus on her career as a freelance editor but still preserve the opportunity to have babies in the future.

chinese woman Xu Zaozao eggs freezes controversy
Thirty-one-year-old freelance editor Teresa Xu watches a television show at a friend's house in Beijing on December 26, 2019. (Photo by NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images)

She applied to do so at a gynecology hospital in Beijing in 2018 but was refused the procedure.

The hospital told her it was not possible to proceed without a marriage certificate, and doctors instead encouraged her to have babies while she was still young.

chinese woman Xu Zaozao eggs freezes controversy
Freelance editor Teresa Xu, 31, shows the letters she wrote to a member of China's parliament at a friend's house in Beijing on December 26, 2019. (Photo by NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Currently, only couples with a marriage certificate and evidence that the woman is infertile can receive fertility treatment in China.

Xu sued the hospital in 2019 but the court ruled three years later in July 2022 that the hospital’s decision was not illegal and did not infringe on her rights.

chinese woman Xu Zaozao eggs freezes controversy
Teresa Xu, also known as Xu Zaozao, waits outside the Beijing Third Intermediate People's Court before a second hearing of her case suing a Beijing hospital for refusing to freeze her eggs on the basis that she is unmarried. (Photo by JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images)

Xu appealed, but on Tuesday, Aug. 6, the court rejected her final appeal, finding again that the hospital did not violate her rights.

Speaking after the verdict, Xu said she was proud of what had been achieved and would not give up her fight.

chinese woman Xu Zaozao eggs freezes controversy
Teresa Xu, also known as Xu Zaozao, speaks to media before a second hearing of her case suing a Beijing hospital for refusing to freeze her eggs on the basis that she is unmarried, at the Beijing Third Intermediate People's Court. (Photo by JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images)

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