Found Photo on SNS and Demand for Paternity Test
"Is Artificial Insemination Being Properly Managed?" Doubts Arise
A story has emerged about a woman in China who accidentally discovered a child who looks exactly like her daughter, who was born through artificial insemination. The woman sought the child's parents and demanded genetic testing, sparking a major controversy.
On the 24th, stories about Ms. A, who lives in Shanghai, appeared on Chinese portal Baidu and social networking service (SNS) Weibo.
On the 13th, Ms. A received a message from a friend asking, "Did you lose your daughter?" along with a photo. The photo was posted on SNS by a netizen trying to find the parents of a lost child at a subway station in Shanghai, and the child's appearance was strikingly similar to Ms. A's daughter.
Ms. A gave birth to her daughter through in vitro fertilization at a hospital in Shanghai in 2020. She suspected that the hospital might have accidentally or intentionally leaked the extra frozen embryos that were stored in case of implantation failure. She tried to contact the parents of the child in the photo but was unable to reach them.
Eventually, Ms. A publicly shared the story that her daughter was born through artificial insemination along with photos of the two children on SNS, demanding a paternity test through genetic analysis. Netizens also said the two children looked so alike that she should report it to the police. Ms. A did report it, but the police responded that there was nothing they could do due to lack of evidence.
As the story spread on SNS, the parents of the lost child suffered severe pressure. They contacted Ms. A, stating that they had given birth to their daughter naturally and had no reason to comply with the paternity test, demanding deletion of photos and videos.
However, Ms. A did not drop her suspicions. In an interview with the media, she said, "Even family and friends who have been watching my daughter closely find it hard to tell them apart, so I wanted to confirm the situation. If it’s just that the two children look alike, I’m fine with being friends. There is no ill will."
The child's parents eventually submitted all medical records related to the daughter's birth to the police. Following this, on the 20th, Ms. A deleted all photos and videos and apologized, saying, "I unintentionally caused hurt because of maternal feelings."
The incident sparked intense debate among netizens. Some supported Ms. A’s actions, saying, "It’s suspicious whether the hospital properly manages embryos used for artificial insemination."
According to a June announcement by the National Health Commission of China, about 300,000 IVF babies are born annually in China, accounting for approximately 2% of the total births in the country.
However, most netizens criticized Ms. A’s actions as reckless, saying, "With a population of 1.4 billion in China, how many people could look alike?" and "It is illegal to disclose a child’s information online and force a paternity test."
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