Photos: LGBT parents challenge notions of ‘family’ in China

The issue of lesbian and gay couples having access to medically-assisted reproductive treatments such as IVF has stirred political debate in several countries, including more recently in France and Israel. In China, the government has not stated a clear position on the country's LGBT community, choosing to ignore it; activists say to keep clear of upsetting international attitudes on the subject. With no way to have legal access to reproductive technology, many LGBT Chinese are opting instead to have such procedures abroad.

Updated on: Dec 23, 2018 12:40 PM IST

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Heads turn when An Hui (L) and Ye Jianbin walk down a street in the Chinese city of Shenzhen with their triplets, who were conceived with help from an egg donor and a surrogate mother. People are mostly curious about their unconventional family, said An, adding that it was not always the case in China where gay couples have long battled conservative Confucian values. (Jason Lee / REUTERS)

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“I’m lucky because I was born in China during a period of rapid change. Today’s society is far more tolerant,” the investment manager (R) told Reuters at his office in Shenzhen’s financial district. “If I had been born during the Cultural Revolution, I would be dead,” said An, 33, who met his partner Ye in 2008. (Jason Lee / REUTERS)

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The two men wanted a family and began exploring the option of in vitro fertilisation (IVF), with help from a human egg donor and a surrogate mother. In 2014, a Thai woman gave birth in Hong Kong to three boys – An Zhizhong, An Zhiya and An Zhifei - who were conceived using human eggs provided by a German fashion model, according to An. (Jason Lee / REUTERS)

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China has not stated a clear position on its LGBT community, Yanzi Peng, Director of LGBT Rights Advocacy China, a group based in Guangzhou. “The best word to describe the attitude of the Chinese government is ‘ignore’,” said Peng. “It’s hard to gauge their exact attitude. They don’t outright object to the LGBT community because that would really go against international attitudes on this issue,” Peng added. (Jason Lee / REUTERS)

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“Homosexual couples have no way to legally use reproductive technology. Many people must go abroad to pay an extremely high fee to have children,” said Bin Xu, director of Beijing-based rights group LGBTI+. After decades of prudery about sex of all kinds, LGBT Chinese have in recent years been openly tackling bureaucracy, legal uncertainty and social norms to assert their place in society. (Jason Lee / REUTERS)

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An Hui rests next to his sons (L-R) An Zhizhong, An Zhiya and An Zhifei. While large Chinese cities have thriving gay scenes and same sex relations are not illegal, the government has shown no interest in legalising same sex marriage, and launches periodic crackdowns on gay content online or elsewhere. (Jason Lee / REUTERS)

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A waiter helps An Hui (C) and his partner Ye Jianbin as one of their sons An Zhiya gets a nosebleed after a lunch at a restaurant in Shenzhen. An Hui, who is a member of the ruling Communist Party, said its time to rethink traditional views of family and marriage as China grapples with an ageing population and declining birth rate. (Jason Lee / REUTERS)

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An Zhizhong, An Zhifei and An Zhiya play with a cleaning robot at their father An Hui’s office in Shenzhen. China moved in 2016 to allow couples to have a second child, relaxing curbs dating back nearly four decades. State media said this year the government was considering scrapping all limits on the number of children a family can have. (Jason Lee / REUTERS)

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An Hui plays with An Zhizhong and An Zhifei, two of his three sons, at home after work. “If a single man has children, a single woman has children, two men have children or two women have children, then for these people they have a family,” An said. “A family needs love for it to be a family. It has nothing to do with sexuality.” (Jason Lee / REUTERS)