Hou Lab

Research focus

ERC Starting Grant · 2025

From Double Motherhood to Surrogacy. Anthropology of Kinship, Gender and Globalization in Contemporary Urban China

Using reproductive medicine is not a recent practice in China. While authorized artificial insemination and In Vitro fertilization have become common practice, the commercialization of gametes and surrogacy remains officially prohibited. However, an underground market of agencies and medical establishments has emerged in major cities, responding to the growing demands from the LGBTQ+ community and heterosexual couples who have lost their only child. How do the Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) and the surrogacy market operate in China? Why do some Chinese intended parents, when pursuing surrogacy abroad, anticipate having mixed-race children? How do these new reproductive practices…

From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.