Chinese Lust to Have 'Dragon' Baby

The dragon is one of the luckiest and most powerful signs in the Chinese zodiac, and people born in the year of the dragon—which runs from today to Feb. 9, 2013—are supposed to be strong and successful. So many Chinese and Chinese-Americans are going to extraordinary lengths to ensure they have a baby born this year, reports the Wall Street Journal. One Los Angeles-based fertility clinic says it has seen a 250% increase in business in January from people of Chinese heritage, and an egg-donation clinic in Beverly Hills has also seen a 250% jump in egg contracts.

During the last year of the dragon, back in 2000, Taiwan reported a 220,000 jump in births from the prior year. And with fertility treatment continuing to improve, experts expect to see big jumps in the birth rate again this year. But dragon babies don't come cheap—one round of in-vitro fertilization can cost up to $10,000. "It doesn't matter if you have an easy time or a hard time" getting pregnant, "when it comes the dragon year they all want to have" a baby, said one doctor in Taiwan. (More Year of the Dragon stories.)