Woman hurt during illegal egg-retrieval; 2 jailed

Two employees of an agency that arranged for surrogate pregnancies in Guangdong province were sentenced to prison after a woman was injured by an illegal egg-retrieval procedure.

The case marked the first time in the province that employees of such an agency have been held criminally liable. Surrogacy is banned in China.

Health authorities have been fighting the practice to ensure people have access to safe, regulated and effective assisted reproductive technologies, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.