Unspun

This from Meoldchina via Asiapundit

China Bans Sperm & Egg Trade

THE MOST interesting thing about China’s newly issued ban is that it implies the country has in recent years been home to a rather sizable market for human sperm, eggs and embryos. And that that market was tainted enough by fraud and general underhandedness that the government felt obliged to step in.

The new regulations are being issued to insure the effectiveness and safety of assisted pregnancy clinics around China, Xinhua reported. A special panel of experts will be convened to evaluate and license such clinics, which have been spreading quickly across the nation, the report said.

It seems, from the cryptic report by Xinhua, that some of these pregnancy clinics were obtaining sperm and eggs illegally, or perhaps even marketing their wares as something they were not. Imagine some ethically-unsound doctor telling a couple unable to get pregnant that he can supply them with sperm from a 6-foot tall graduate of Beijing University, who also holds an MBA from Stanford University. And in actuality, what the couple are really getting is the seed of some grizzled migrant worker from Gansu Province. Not the most pleasant of circumstances, I’d say.

“Violators will be severely punished,” Xinhua quotes the Ministry of Health as saying. The ministry also posted a list of licensed clinics on its website. Maybe one day soon, we’ll also be able to have the address of the closest clinic sent via text message to our mobile phones.