According to Jiefang Daily, the case handled by the Shanghai court has attracted public attention. The wife, surnamed Qiu, passed away in 2021 from cancer. Before her death, she and her husband, surnamed Lin, had no children.
The couple's joint assets include two apartments in Shanghai and bank savings. The exact amount was not disclosed.
By law, Qiu's assets will be divided between Lin and her adoptive parents. Due to health problems, Qiu's parents were unable to have children, so they adopted her when she was young.
In 2022, Lin brought a child home and informed Qiu's adoptive mother that it was her child, conceived through surrogacy. He asked for a share of the inheritance to be given to the child.
Lin confirmed that he and Qiu had previously contacted an overseas agency in the hope of having a child through surrogacy.
Qiu's adoptive mother later denied Qiu's claim and expressed doubts about the baby's identity. She said medical documents indicated that Lin was the baby's biological father, but there was no evidence to confirm the mother's identity.
According to Qiu's adoptive mother, her daughter was not suitable for the egg retrieval procedure due to her poor health and the long-term medication she would need to take. In addition, she had never heard her daughter talk about preparing for the surrogacy procedure.
China bans all activities related to surrogacy within its borders. However, children born through surrogacy have the same inheritance rights as those conceived naturally.
This year, the court handling the case said it could not verify the blood relationship between the child and the deceased, as Qiu's parents were not related to her. Qiu's body was also cremated after her death.
The court also found Lin’s testimony full of contradictions. He claimed that Qiu had gone to Thailand to retrieve her eggs in 2016, but the immigration department had no record of her going abroad that year.
Lin also produced several documents showing that Qiu had undergone medical examinations. But the dates on these documents were after her death.
Ultimately, the court concluded that Qiu was not the child's biological mother. Therefore, the child had no right to inherit her property.
