Surrogacy in Hong Kong

Abstract

In 2010, the Hong Kong public was shocked by media reports of Peter Lee, son of renowned tycoon Lee Shau Kee, and the triplets born to him in the United States through a surrogate mother. Surrogacy was catapulted to the forefront of public discussion. The particular controversy surrounding Peter Lee's triplets was due to multiple factors. For example, there was the fact that Peter Lee was a single father and that the triplets would thus grow up motherless, 1 as well as speculation that he had undergone sex selection to ensure that the triplets would be sons. 2 Given that the triplets had been born pursuant to a commercial surrogacy arrangement in the United States, there was also a question as to whether Peter Lee may have contravened any prohibition contained in the relevant legislation and committed an offence (discussed further below). The following chapter aims to provide an overview of the regulation of surrogacy in Hong Kong. It begins with the general legal framework, tracing the historical development of the relevant legislation and then setting out its main provisions and prohibitions in relation to surrogacy. This is followed by an examination of the Council on Human Reproductive Technology and the Code of Practice it publishes, together with the eligibility requirements contained within. The latter half examines parenthood in Hong Kong and how it is transferred for the purposes of surrogacy arrangements.