Parents reunited with baby reportedly sold by obstetrician

A baby who was reportedly kidnapped and sold by a maternity doctor in Fuping, Shaanxi province, in July has been reunited with his parents after being tracked down in a neighbouring province, local media reported.

The boy was allegedly sold for 21,600 yuan (€2,660) by an obstetrician surnamed Zhang on July 17, the day after he was born to a 23-year-old farmer, surnamed Dong, in the Fuping Maternal & Child Healthcare Hospital.

The obstetrician reportedly told the parents the child had a serious congenital heart disease that would be expensive to treat, and persuaded the father, Lai Guofeng, to entrust the child into the doctor’s care for treatment. The parents later became suspicious they may have been tricked, and raised the alarm.

The baby was found in Anyang, in neighbouring Henan province, at about 3am on Sunday and was in good health.

Human trafficking
Two other suspects, whose surnames were given as Pan and Cui and who purchased the baby from Mr Zhang, were also detained. They sold the baby for 30,000 yuan (€3,694).

Mr Zhang and five other suspects have been detained on suspicion of human trafficking, and police said they were investigating if Mr Zhang had kidnapped and sold other babies.

China News Service cited an official saying at least seven similar cases had allegedly occurred at the same hospital – in each case, the doctor told families their newborns had congenital diseases that could not be cured and would be expensive to treat.

The official in charge of the hospital, Wang Li, and two of her colleagues have been sacked over the case.

Yang Jianlong, a policeman from Fuping county, where the alleged trafficking took place, said DNA tests had confirmed the baby is the couple’s son.