Forcing surgery 'not true'

Family planning officials in Guangdong province are disputing reports that they force local women to have their fallopian tubes tied or their husbands to have a vasectomy after the couples' second child is born.

"We encourage couples to have their oviducts or spermatic ducts ligated after they have delivered two children, but it is only one of the choices for the couples to prevent another pregnancy," the Guangdong Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission said in a statement on its website.

The commission's statement follows complaints by some women that local neighborhood committees won't issue a certificate for a second child unless the couple sign a contract promising that after the birth, the wife will have her oviducts ligated or that the husband will have a vasectomy.