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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Amy Hawkins Senior China correspondent

Chinese woman loses final appeal in her fight to freeze her eggs

China Lawsuit Beijing
Xu Zaozao speaks to media outside the court as they thrust microphones, phones and dictaphones at her
Xu Zaozao: ‘Losing in the second trial is not the end of the story.’ She is seen as a feminist icon by many, in a country with falling birth rates. Photograph: Jade Gao/AFP/Getty Images

A Chinese woman who filed a groundbreaking lawsuit to win the right to freeze her eggs has lost her final appeal, exhausting the legal avenues in her fight to widen access to fertility treatment in China.

Beijing No 3 intermediate people’s court ruled that Xu Zaozao’s rights had not been violated when Beijing obstetrics and gynaecology hospital refused to freeze her eggs in 2018. Chinese regulations stipulate that assisted reproductive technology is only for married couples with fertility issues. Xu, now 36, said the doctor gave her some friendly advice instead: hurry up, get married and have children now.

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