Chris Zou had just broken up with her boyfriend when she learned she was pregnant. She shared the news with him and, despite his opposition, decided to raise the baby alone. Three years later, Zou is blazing a legal trail for China's growing number of unmarried mothers.


Zou, 43, is an experienced employee with a multinational company in Shanghai. She has managed to provide for her son Xinxin alone and she has navigated the complex process of getting him identity papers. But for all her determination and competence, she has so far been unable to make a claim for her employer-provided maternity insurance.

Local authorities told her she could not lodge a claim without providing a marriage certificate and the father's information details. Believing any mother whose employer had paid for a policy had the right to make a claim, Zou has been in litigation with the local government since early last year.


"I found no mothers like me had taken it to court before, so I thought I should do it," she said.

Whether Zou wins or loses is not important. What's important is that it has aroused the attention of the public and the authorities.Hu Zhan, sociology professor, Fudan University

China's laws surrounding children born out of wedlock are contradictory. The marriage law prescribes that children like Xinxin enjoy the same rights as those born to married couples, while the population and family planning law imposes a fine on unmarried parents, called "social support expenditure".

The social insurance law dictates that mothers are entitled to their employer-provided maternity insurance, but detailed regulations of the law at provincial level all require the insured woman to provide a proof of childbearing status from the government - impossible to obtain without a marriage certificate.

Last year Zou sued the Jinyang subdistrict office in Pudong New Area, which is responsible for issuing the proof of childbearing status. She also sued the municipal social insurance centre, which had declined her claim on the grounds she could not provide the required materials.

Both cases failed and Zou also lost a later appeal. In July she applied for a retrial at the Shanghai Supreme People's Court, which has so far accepted her application.

"The possibility of a reversal is very low but, to me, it's not about winning back the money any more. It's about improving awareness of mums like me," Zou said.

"I think as long as the maternity insurance premiums are paid, women should have the right to make a claim when having a child, no matter if the child is born within marriage or not, or even if she's a surrogate mother.

"During all the court hearings, no one has actually dared to say that having children without being married is illegal. I therefore have always believed I am correct."

Zou's persistence has won her wide public support, with the hashtag "unmarried mother refused claim of maternity insurance" a hot topic on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, in recent weeks.

Although the number of unmarried mothers is on the rise, there are no official numbers because the data is hard to collect, with many hiding their status for fear of repercussions.

Many people may desire to be in relationships and to have kids, but not marriage. As more Chinese people get rich, they don't need financial support from a partner to raise a child by entering marriageHu Zhan, a sociology professor

But experts say it is time China's lawmakers considered the rights of unmarried parents and their children as more people are finding marriage unnecessary but still want to have children.

Hu Zhan, a sociology professor from Fudan University, said Zou's legal fight was very meaningful, especially as more people were expected to become unmarried parents in the future.

"Many people may desire to be in relationships and to have kids, but not marriage," he said. "As more Chinese people get rich, they don't need financial support from a partner to raise a child by entering marriage."

According to a nationwide official survey of 1 per cent of the population in 2005, 12 per cent of Shanghai's male residents aged between 30 and 34, and 7 per cent of women in the same age group, had never married. In contrast, a study of 1,200 Shanghai households, by Hu and his colleagues in 2016, found rates among people in the same age range had grown to 19.2 per cent and 12.5 per cent, respectively.


Hu said it was unclear if those surveyed were giving up on marriage for the rest of their lives, or simply waiting until they had accumulated more assets. If that was the case, it would also mean parents would be more capable of raising children independently if the marriage did not work out, he noted.

"Whether Zou wins or loses these cases is not important. What's important is that it has aroused the attention of the public and the authorities. There will always be an after-effect from a public event," Hu said.

Lu Xiaoquan, a women's rights lawyer from Beijing-based Qianqian Law Firm, said the laws needed updating.

"Birth out of wedlock is an objective existence of our society. It hasn't done any harm to the country, society or any individual. So there's nothing illegal about it," Lu said. "(But) the 'social support expenditure' fine in the family planning law means having kids without getting married is something illegal that results in administrative punishment."

Such a rule has infringed the human rights of children born out of wedlock and is discriminating.Lu Xiaoquan, women's rights lawyer, Qianqian Law Firm

"I think such a rule has infringed the human rights of children born out of wedlock and is discriminating. Based on the principles of equality and non-discrimination, it should be amended, or deleted," he said.

While China's unmarried parents wait for legal change, society's attitudes towards them have progressed ahead of the law. One battle Zou did not have to fight was over the "social support expenditure". She was exempted from the fine by the local cadres, who are more lenient than they used to be on these matters.

There has been some legal progress with regard to the rights of illegitimate children, and two-year-old Xinxin has been granted a hukou - or permanent residence registration - which was previously denied to those born out of wedlock.

The hukou, which also serves as a domestic passport in China, is tied to a series of social benefits and, thanks to a State Council directive in January 2016, it can now be registered by either parent.

But the absence of a legal father may present problems for Xinxin down the track. "I heard that if one day he wants to study abroad, a notarisation of birth which needs both parents' information would be required, and if he wanted to work in a domestic government agency, he would not pass the political background check," Zou said.

"But overall, I feel fine. I don't worry a lot."

As for herself, Zou does not exclude the possibility of marriage. "It's not that I hate marriage. I would consider it when there's a right person. But I know the chances are very slim," she said.

Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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