A man in Shanghai has sparked public interest by bringing home a baby he claims was born via surrogacy with the consent of his late wife, in an effort to claim part of her inheritance. The case, which was heard by a local court, has captured widespread attention.
The woman, surnamed Qiu, passed away in 2021 after battling an undisclosed connective tissue illness and cancer. At the time of her death, she and her husband, known as Lin, had no children, according to Jiefang Daily.
Qiu and Lin’s joint assets included two apartments in Shanghai and an undisclosed sum of money in bank savings. Under Chinese law, Qiu’s estate was set to be divided between her husband and her parents, who are in their 80s. However, her parents, who are her foster parents, had raised Qiu after they were unable to have biological children of their own due to health problems.
In 2022, Lin informed Qiu’s foster mother that part of his wife’s inheritance should be allocated to a surrogate child, whose gender has not been revealed. He claimed that he and Qiu had arranged for the surrogacy with an overseas agency before her death.
Qiu’s foster mother strongly disputed Lin’s claims, expressing doubts about the baby’s parentage. She pointed out that medical records showed Lin was the biological father, but no documentation confirmed Qiu as the baby’s mother. Additionally, she stated that Qiu had serious health issues that made her unsuitable for egg retrieval procedures, and she had never mentioned such plans.
While surrogacy is banned in China, children born through surrogacy are still entitled to inheritance rights, just like biological children. However, the court in Shanghai, which heard the case this year, could not verify the baby’s biological connection to the deceased woman. This was partly because Qiu’s parents were not her biological relatives, and her body had been cremated shortly after her death.
The court found contradictions in Lin’s statements. He claimed that Qiu had traveled to Thailand in 2016 for egg retrieval, but no records showed that she had traveled there that year. He also presented medical documents indicating that Qiu had undergone check-ups, but the dates on these documents were after her death.
In the end, the court ruled that Qiu could not be the biological mother of the baby. As a result, the infant was not granted the right to inherit her estate.
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