Xiaogunzhu was fascinated by the picture of a French-Irish hybrid boy with smiling blue eyes, looking for a potential foreign father for her children.

The 39-year-old woman viewed a list of foreign sperm donors on the website of an overseas sperm bank. She is one of many wealthy Chinese single women who prefer to be single mothers rather than married.

In China, unmarried women do not have access to sperm banks or assisted reproductive services such as IVF. Therefore, they have to look to sperm donation services abroad.

After selecting a suitable donor, code # 14471 on the California sperm bank's website, Xiaogunzhu flew to the US to take the first step in the process of artificial insemination.

"Many women don't want to get married, which means they have a hard time being a mother with Chinese regulations," said Xiaogunzhu, who uses the blog name to avoid getting noticed. "But I have found another way."

Oscar, Xiaogunzhu's 9-month-old half-child, is named after a French comic book character, as a way to remember the child's origin.

The marriage rate in China has decreased in the last 5 years. Last year, an average of only 7.2 out of 1,000 people in the country married, according to official statistics.

Sociologist Sandy To said that it is difficult for highly educated women to marry, because men often "find it hard to accept an educated partner and make better money than them".

But many women find it difficult to get married or don't want to be a husband that cannot stop them from being a mother. Xiaogunzhu believes that a child does not necessarily have a father. Her father, who was always in control and temper, made her no longer interested in getting married. "Why does everyone think children will wonder about not having a father?" She said.

Analysts expect the market for assisted reproductive services in China to reach US $ 1.5 billion by 2022, doubling that of 2016. But the Chinese people's demand for this service abroad is also boom. The Cryos International sperm and egg bank in Denmark set up a Chinese website and recruited staff to speak the language. Sperm banks in Europe and the United States report a growing number of Chinese tourists.

However, the journey to "find children" of single Chinese women is not cheap and easy. The Ministry of Health of China regulates the purpose of sperm banks is to treat infertility and prevent genetic diseases. That means unmarried women cannot use their services.

"We want to help single women become mothers, but unfortunately there are many restrictions that restrict us," said Liu Jiaen, director of a maternity hospital in Beijing.

Meanwhile, the cost of getting a child through a foreign sperm bank is at least 200,000 yuan (about US $ 28,500).

Because China banned the import of sperm, Chinese women had to go abroad several times to take artificial insemination steps. They are also subject to the judgment of those around them, because Chinese society still places great emphasis on marriage before giving birth.

"Giving single women access to sperm banks and related technologies such as freezing eggs is a way to protect their fertility," said Alan Zhang, a Beijing-based rights activist, said.

The 28-year-old activist wrote more than 60 letters to Chinese National Assembly deputies to propose changes to the regulation restricting the reproductive rights of single women. This is part of Zhang's efforts and the Diversity Family NGO she co-founded to support the non-traditional family model.

"The government doesn't create conditions, so they have to find their own way," Zhang said.

In China, sperm donors have to hide their identities and related information. In contrast, international sperm banks provide women with information about donors, such as hair color, childhood pictures, and race.

"When you choose a donor, sperm is really no different than a commodity," said Carrie, a 35-year-old single mother living in southwest China. Carrie believes that foreign sperm banks are better in China and "meet the needs of their customers".

Peter Reeslev, CEO of Cryos International, said Chinese women often prefer sperm donors to be white men. Another possible reason is that foreign sperm banks have few donors, Chinese men.

Cyros has only 9/900 donors who are Chinese, while the rate at the California Cryobank sperm bank is 70/500 people.

Many experts believe that even though many sperm donors are Chinese or Chinese-American, women still prefer to have half-bloods.

"Most of the selected sperm donors are white," said Xi Hao, a Beijing-based coordinator who specializes in helping Chinese clients contact a fertility support center in California.

Zhan Yingying, co-founder of Diversity Family, said it is rare for women to choose a Chinese father for their children. Double eyelids and light skin are the standard for Chinese beauty.

"Before choosing a donor, I didn't care much about their race," Carrie said. But she changed her mind and liked the beauty of foreign men after looking at the sperm donor list. Carrie now has two Danish offspring.

For Xiaogunzhu, the character described as "funny and cheerful" was the main factor that made her choose an French-born father for Oscar. On her Weibo, the Oscar image with the hagtag #bred is popular with many people.

"I personally don't care about skin color," Xiaogunzhu said. "I only care about big eyes and beautiful facial features."