{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,17]],"date-time":"2026-10-17T14:41:02Z","timestamp":1792248062823,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"Wiley","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,17]],"date-time":"2026-10-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1792195200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,17]],"date-time":"2026-10-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1792195200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Bioethics"],"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    Beginning with a recent high\u2010profile case in mainland China, this paper argues that the current prohibition on social egg freezing for single women cannot be justified from a Confucian ethical perspective. We first explain why Confucian ethics provides a normatively appropriate and socially salient framework for evaluating reproductive policy in the Chinese context. We then articulate a theoretical model that we term\n                    <jats:italic>Confucian familist virtue ethics<\/jats:italic>\n                    . A central contribution of the paper is to distinguish between Confucian ethical ideals and its minimal standards. While the ideals\u2014such as timely marriage and childbearing within an intact family\u2014are properly the objects of moral aspiration and voluntary cultivation, only violations of the minimal standards warrant legal prohibition. On this basis, we develop three lines of argument to show that although social egg freezing by single women may fall short of Confucian aspirational ideals, it does not violate the ethical minimum. Accordingly, it does not justify coercive state intervention. Finally, we examine the predictive concern that permitting social egg freezing would undermine marital norms or substantially increase single motherhood. We argue that such negative effects are empirically uncertain and in principle manageable through regulatory design. They therefore fail to provide sufficient grounds for a categorical prohibition.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/bioe.70202","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,17]],"date-time":"2026-10-17T13:49:52Z","timestamp":1792244992000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Why Social Egg Freezing for Single Women Should Not Be Prohibited: A Confucian Perspective"],"prefix":"10.1111","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2448-425X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rui","family":"Deng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Humanities and Social Science Shanxi Medical University Taiyuan Shanxi China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ruiping","family":"Fan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public and International Affairs, Institute of Global Governance and Innovation City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_9_2_1","unstructured":"\u201cWhen a 30 \u2010Year\u2010Old Unmarried Woman Decides to Freeze Her Eggs \u201dChina News Weekly March 17 2022 http:\/\/www.sohu.com\/a\/530590520_220095."},{"key":"e_1_2_9_3_1","unstructured":"Y.LianandJ.Hui \u201cChina's First Case of Unmarried Egg Freezing: Why Is It Not Allowed and What's Behind It? \u201d December 25 2019 https:\/\/www.sohu.com\/a\/362644950_120429984."},{"key":"e_1_2_9_4_1","unstructured":"\u201cFirst Egg Freezing Plaintiff Xu Zaozao: I'm Not That Confident \u201dThe Paper January 7 2020 https:\/\/www.thepaper.cn\/newsDetail_forward_5442206."},{"key":"e_1_2_9_5_1","unstructured":"\u201cAdministrative Measures for Human Assisted Reproductive Technology \u201d Chinese Government Website February 20 2001 https:\/\/www.gov.cn\/gongbao\/content\/2002\/content_61906.html."},{"key":"e_1_2_9_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/dewb.70002"},{"issue":"2","key":"e_1_2_9_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.1111\/dewb.12317","article-title":"Reproductive Justice: Non\u2010Interference or Non\u2010Domination?","volume":"23","author":"Bhakuni H.","year":"2023","journal-title":"Developing World Bioethics"},{"issue":"1","key":"e_1_2_9_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"ii","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-8519.2008.00682.x","article-title":"Rich Discussion About Reproductive Autonomy","volume":"23","author":"McLeod C.","year":"2009","journal-title":"Bioethics"},{"issue":"2","key":"e_1_2_9_9_1","first-page":"13","article-title":"From Choice to Justice: Disrupting the Binary Political Logics of Assisted Reproduction","volume":"26","author":"Mayers L.","year":"2024","journal-title":"Health and Human Rights"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bpobgyn.2019.07.006","article-title":"The Moral Imperative of Reproductive Rights, Health, and Justice","volume":"62","author":"Parker W. 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