Husband who brought a surrogate baby to get more of his deceased wife's inheritance, what's the verdict?
Nov 26, 2024
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According to Hong Kong media outlet South China Morning Post, a woman named Chiu died of cancer in 2021.
She and her husband Lynn had no children.
The couple's common property included two apartments in Shanghai and bank savings, but the exact amount was not disclosed.
According to the law, the deceased Chiu's property must be shared by her husband Lin and her parents.
However, her parents were adoptive parents, not biological parents. I adopted Chiu because I couldn't have biological children due to health problems.
In 2022, Lin informed Chiu's adoptive mother that some of his wife's legacy should be allocated to an undisclosed surrogate.
He claimed that he and Chiu had previously contacted an overseas agency to have a baby through a surrogate.
However, Chiu's adoptive mother rejected the claim and expressed doubts about the baby's identity.
The medical data stated that Lynn was the biological father of the baby, but there was no evidence to identify the mother.
According to Chiu's adoptive mother, her daughter was not in a suitable situation for the egg extraction process due to various health conditions and long-term drug use.
In addition, I never mentioned that my daughter was preparing for such a procedure.
China prohibits activities related to surrogacy in the country. However, a child born through a surrogate mother has the same inheritance rights as a child born naturally pregnant.
A Shanghai court hearing the case this year said it could not confirm the biological relationship between the baby and the deceased because Chiu's parents were not biological relatives and the body was cremated after death.
The court also found Lin's statements to be full of contradictions. He claimed Chiu traveled to Thailand for egg extraction in 2016, but there was no record of her leaving for Thailand that year.
In addition, although Lin Yi Chiu submitted several documents indicating that she had undergone medical examinations while she was alive, the dates written in these documents were after her death.
In the end, the court concluded that Chiu was not the biological mother of the baby and therefore the baby was not entitled to inherit her property.
bellho@sportschosun.com
