In a twist, wealthy Chinese couples are looking to the United States for surrogate births, while Americans look to China to adopt. The trend is leading a surge in egg donor prices for ethnically Chinese women in California and other parts of the U.S., the Los Angeles Times reports.

According to the article, Chinese couples who aren’t capable or don’t have the time to gestate a child on there own are increasingly coming to the U.S. for help. Surrogacy companies in California especially are seeing an influx in Chinese clientele, who generally use their own eggs and sperm to be carried by a surrogate through gestation, unless either is inviable.

Donor egg clinics like Egg Donor Program in Los Angeles may pay up two to three times as much for a clients eggs, so long as that client is ethnically Chinese. The amount, according to the Los Angeles Times, is usually around $5,000 to $8,000, whereas some ethnically Chinese donors may receive upwards of $15,000 per 10 – 14 egg donating session. The cost for having a surrogate is between $80,000 and $120,000, not including any miscarriages or other complications.

When born, these children also retain U.S. citizenship, even if they are taken back to China by their parents, an added perk for some.

What do you think about surrogacy in the Asian-American community? Would you donate your eggs or have someone else carry to term your child? Let us know in the comments.

Tags: birth, Chinese surrogacy, citizenship, egg donor