Baby boy born four years AFTER his parents died in vehicle crash

In a remarkable story the parents Shen Jie and his wife Liu XI, have fought a long and arduous battle in order for their lovely grandson to born four years after his parents died in a vehicle crash.

The child's parents, Shen Jie and Liu Xi, were married for two years when they made a decision to try in-vitro fertilization, The Guardian reported.

But five days before one of the fertilised embryos was due to be transplanted into Liu, the couple died in a vehicle accident in March 2013 in the Chinese province of Jiangsu.

After their death, their parents fought a legal battle to use the embryos and hire a surrogate to carry them. Given the legal ambiguity around untransplanted embryos, the group had to look outside the country.

Then came the next hurdle: who would be the child's surrogate mother? "His eyes are like my daughter's, but he resembles his father a little more", she added. Liu's mother named the child Tiantian, meaning "sweet".

The tot was born after an embryo was placed in a surrogate, following years of legal disputes over whether it could be used.

At the Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Liu's fertilised embryos sat in a tank of liquid nitrogen, preserved at minus 196 degrees Celsius.

Laos has become the latest impoverished nation in Asia to witness a flourishing but legally opaque commercial surrogacy industry after countries like Thailand, Cambodia and Nepal outlawed the practice in recent years.

The child's grandparents also had to give blood and take DNA tests to prove that he was indeed their grandson and his parents were Chinese nationals.

In lieu of a large, ostentatious banquet, however, Tiantian's grandparents held a smaller affair, according to the Beijing News.

Speaking to Beijing News, Shen Xinan, Tiantian's paternal grandfather, told of his intention to reveal to Tiantian what happened to his parents when he is older and that, until the right time arrives, he will tell them that they are overseas.

Shen said, "This boy is destined to be sad on his arrival into the world".

'Other babies have their fathers and mothers, but he doesn't.