独身女性にも卵子凍結の権利を　控訴審開始　中国

【北京ＡＦＰ＝時事】中国・北京の裁判所で９日、婚姻中の夫婦にのみ認められている卵子凍結を独身女性にも認めるよう求めている裁判の控訴審が始まった。（写真は中国・北京の裁判所前で取材に応じる徐棗棗さん）
　徐棗棗さんは北京の病院で卵子凍結を断られ、２０１９年に病院を提訴したが、２２年７月に一審で敗訴した。
　中国では女性の権利に対する関心が高まっているとともに、出生率の低下が懸念されており、徐さんの裁判は広く注目を集めている。
　徐さんは、パートナーを見つけられなかった場合に自分一人で子どもを持つという選択肢を得るため、卵子を凍結したいと考えている。
　徐さんはこの日、審理を前に集まった記者らの取材に応じ「独身女性にも多様性があるという事実に、より多くの人に気付いてもらいたい」「女性は生殖について、そして自分の体について、自分で決める権利がある」と訴えた。
　徐さんが一審で敗訴した２２年以降、中国社会は大きく変わった。２３年には約６０年ぶりとなる人口減少を記録。出生率は１．１５と非常に低く、政府は子どもを複数持つよう強く推奨している。
　今年１月には、南西部・四川省で独身でも子どもの届け出が認められるという画期的な動きがあった。ただ、それ以外の地域では、依然として子どもの届け出は既婚者に限られている。
　徐さんは控訴審の開始について、女性の権利を高めるための「希望になる」と語った。
　「この訴訟は社会に大きな影響を与えるため、勝つ可能性があまりないことは分かっている」「しかし、社会的な議論を刺激し、独身女性がオープンに話すことができるようになった」と続けた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/05/10-16:31）

A single Chinese woman on Tuesday began an appeal in her legal battle for the right to freeze her eggs, a procedure only available in China to married couples.
Xu Zaozao took legal action in 2019 after a Beijing hospital refused to freeze her eggs but a Beijing court dismissed her case in July 2022.
Her case is widely followed in China, where women's rights have become an increasingly prominent issue and the falling birthrate is of growing concern.
Xu says she wants to freeze her eggs to give herself the option of having a child alone if she cannot find a partner.
I hope more people will recognise the fact that there is a whole diversity of single women, Xu told the Beijing court where the appeal trial opened on Tuesday.
They have the right to have autonomy in matters of reproduction and to make decisions concerning their own bodies, she told journalists.
Since Xu lost her initial case in 2022 a lot has changed. China recorded the first decline in its population in six decades last year, against a backdrop of very low fertility rates (1.15 children per woman) and the government now strongly encourages people to have children.
In a revolutionary move, the southwest province of Sichuan in January said it would allow single people to register their child, while elsewhere in China it is an option still only available to married people.
This opening gives me hope for greater consideration of women's rights, Xu said.
I know very well that we don't have such a great chance of winning because this case has a great impact on society, she admitted.
But it provokes public debate and single women have been able to speak out openly.
Judgment will be announced at a later date.
Egg freezing consists of removing the oocytes before preserving them in liquid nitrogen to be used in a subsequent pregnancy.
Women across the world choose to freeze their eggs to give them a greater chance of having children later in life.
Economic development has pushed more Chinese women into the job market in recent decades, leaving many choosing to marry later in life.
Many face great pressure from parents to get married and have a child after the age of 30.