Couples queue up for test-tube babies as one-child policy relaxed  

重庆:高龄夫妻为生二娃通宵排队做试管婴儿

为拿到市妇幼保健院的检查号牌，一些单独夫妻凌晨三四点就来排队。昨天上午，重庆市妇幼保健院门口排起了一条20多米长的队伍，排队的人都有备而来，板凳、水杯、饼干面包一应俱全。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- Long queues have been forming outside a maternity hospital in Chongqing Municipality in Southwestern China for days, as many middle-aged couples seek to consider test-tube technology for a second child, a local newspaper reported.

More than 62 people sat on stools waiting in a line longer than 20 meters on Monday morning, all to consult doctors about test-tube babies.

A test-tube baby refers to a child conceived through in-vitro fertilization, a medical technique in which a woman's egg is placed with her husband's sperm in a laboratory environment to promote fertilization.

A woman surnamed Zhang, in the queue with his husband, said she has a 17-year-old son, but longed for a second child. "Since I am 44 years old, the doctor advised us to seek high-tech ways," Zhang said.

The majority of people in the queue are middle-aged.

A medical staffer at the hospital said many people have been queuing every day recently, and they are trying to get more people registered.

A man in the queue said he came here at 1 am, as he didn't get a numbered ticket last time. Another man surnamed Zhang said the tickets are handed out at midnight, and they have to queue for nearly 24 hours.

Other than restroom breaks, everyone sits there and waits.

The city relaxed its one-child policy this week, allowing couples to have a second baby if either parent is an only child.