The Ministry of Health is consulting experts on the issue of surrogacy, which is still illegal in China, the Beijing Times reported on Tuesday.

Qiao Jie, an expert in reproductive medicine and the president of the Third Hospital of Peking University, revealed the move to the newspaper, but added that it will take at least five to 10 years to legalize surrogacy.

The regulations need to be revised, he said, including how to guarantee the safety of surrogate mothers and how to adopt the babies they give birth to.