ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the historical changes in prenatal genetic testing practices in China since the 1990s. It focuses particularly on China as an exemplar of the significance that selective reproduction technologies have in social, cultural and regulatory terms, and the role that they play in shaping governance practice, particularly within traditions and communities exposed to non-Western medical cultures. The chapter includes not only the viewpoint of patients and families affected by prenatal genetic testing, but also the voices of bioethicists and frontline health workers from local hospitals. It demonstrates that individual families' goals of having a healthy baby and the state's goal of raising the "quality" of the population seemingly fit together perfectly. In 2016, the Chinese government relaxed the family planning policy and allowed all couples to have a second child. The two-child policy facilitates the spread of the discourse of choice in regard to reproduction.
