A Chinese baby boy was born four years after his parents died in a car crash. The infant was carried to term and delivered using the deceased couple’s fertilized embryos via a surrogate mother from Laos, according to The Beijing News via South China Morning Post.
Shen Jie and his wife Liu Xi were reportedly undergoing fertility treatment when they died in a car accident in Yixing, Jiangsu province, China in March 2013.
The couple’s parents had to file two lawsuits to legally claim four fertilized embryos produced by the couple at a hospital in Nanjing. The process took four years, but ultimately yielded the grandparents their grandson. Their unique case was controversial, since there is currently no existing law in China that grants parents of couples inheritance of their children’s embryos.
The parents of the couple also had to find a surrogate overseas, as surrogacy remains illegal in China. They would eventually hire a 27-year-old mother from Laos to carry and deliver the child for them.
The baby boy, nicknamed “Tiantian” (“sweet” in Mandarin), was successfully born in December 2017, over four years since his parents’ fatal accident.
“He’s always smiling. His eyes are like my daughter, but he looks more like her dad overall,” said Liu Xi’s mother, Hu Xingxian, adding that they were happy that the baby would extend their bloodline.
Shen Jie’s father, Shen Xinnan, said he only plans to tell the boy that his parents are living overseas and reveal what happened to his parents when he is older. “For sure we will tell him what happened – what choice do we have?” Shen was quoted as saying.
Featured Image Weibo via SCMP
