Test-tube baby technology should be popularized to bring happiness to more sterile couples, a Chinese doctor said Saturday at the on-going session of the legislative National People's Congress (NPC).

About ten percent of Chinese couples are not able to bear a child. However, only some 100 hospitals in the country are capable of performing a test-tube baby operation, said according to NPC deputy Dong Lingyi from Liaoning Province.

Though there are more than 20 auxiliary ways of child bearing, test-tube baby technology is the most effective at present, the Dong said, adding that Chinese doctors have reached the advanced level in applying the technology.

Children normally serve as an adhesive force in a family, and in a sense they can contribute to social stability, Dong said. "We respect people's right of not having a child, but we should also help those who want to have one while they are not able to," Dong said.

She suggested that the government promote the application of test-tube baby technology in the country and enact related laws and regulations.

( March 10, 2002)