(Yicai) Nov. 28 -- Wuhan Puren Hospital is suspended from issuing birth certificates due to an investigation regarding suspected surrogacy, an illegal form of assisted reproductive treatment in China.

Authorities have entered the relevant institutions and ordered Wuhan Puren Hospital and Wuhan Ruiboxiang Judicial Appraisal Institute to temporarily stop issuing birth certificates or conducting paternity tests in response to netizens' reports of surrogacy and false paternity tests, the National Health Commission announced today. 

On Nov. 24, Shangguan Zhengyi, an anti-human trafficking activist, reported that the tertiary hospital in the central Chinese city offered services to parents who wanted to hire another woman to carry their pregnancy and the appraisal institute changed blood samples and issued false paternity tests to obtain birth certificates.

Employees of Wuhan Puren Hospital said to The Paper that the hospital has never done surrogacy business while they are waiting to hear the results of the investigation.

The health commission said yesterday that it has sent teams to Xiangyang in Hubei, Foshan in Guangdong, Nanning in Guangxi, and other places to verify claims of sales of birth certificates and related medical documents. The next step will be carrying out inspections across the country.

Founded in 1955, Wuhan Puren Hospital is a big and modern class-3A general hospital.

Editor: Emmi Laine