Fake birth certificates have long been a hot (if niche) commodity in China. In past decades couples would seek them out in order to get around the one-child policy. They could legally have two children if they were twins—or if their counterfeit papers stated as much. The one-child policy was loosened in 2016. But fake birth certificates remain in demand. Several hospitals are suspected of selling them. Some believe human-traffickers are the buyers. But investigators are eyeing another group: people who have babies via surrogates.
Surrogacy falls into a legal grey area in China. The state often says that the practice is banned; but there is no law against being a surrogate or hiring one. Yet doctors and hospitals that facilitate it are punished. Selling eggs, sperm or embryos are also crimes. And surrogacy contracts are not recognised by the state. That is where the bogus documents come in. A birth certificate is needed to obtain such things as health insurance, social security and household registration (see Chaguan). The fake ones allow non-biological children to officially be part of their new families.