China's Illegal 'Baby Factory' Situation Is Like The Plot Of A Horror Film

Chinese police have rescued just under 40 newborn babies from a place that has been dubbed the "baby factory" in China's eastern province of Shandong.

What is more, many of the babies were discovered to be quite ill, with some of them suffering from sexually-transmitted diseases, including HIV.

Presumably these were contracted from their mothers at birth, rather than anything more harrowing.

The Concept

Thought adoption was the positive process of finding a home for children that would otherwise have been orphaned, moved around between care-homes or worse?

Yes, us too.

Sadly, these operations, dubbed "baby farms," are set up for the process of breeding babies, in order to sell them on to couples who want to add to their families.

Gang members and groups of human traffickers are thought to target either young down-and-out women who are already pregnant, or vulnerable women who the traffickers can impregnate, offering them a cash injection which they would feel it was hard to refuse (somewhere between £5,000 and £9,000).

The Bust

In this particular instance, a raid was planned and executed when a group of pregnant women were spotted being ushered into what looked to be a factory-type building.

The Babies

"Thirty-seven newborn babies were found and none of them were healthy, with at least seven having a sexually-transmitted disease or HIV," said a police spokesperson.

What is more, it was discovered that some babies in the factory were being fed on instant noodles and other left-overs that are unsuitable for children of their age.

The conditions in the factory were found to be "unhygenic and totally unsuitable for unsupervised childbirth," the police spokesperson continued.

It is a situation which risks the lives of the young mothers, as well as the babies they give birth to.

Widespread Problem

Though 37 babies were rescued this time, "baby factories" as a means of child trafficking are clearly a much greater problem.

Just over 100 arrests were made of child traffickers across four regions as part of the same sting operation.

The Minister for Public Security and Anti-Trafficking explained "this is a relatively new form of child trafficking and differs from the traditional form which usually sees the children stolen."

But Why?

The question remains as to why.

China still operates a one-child policy.

It was relaxed a few years ago in order to allow a second child in the case that one of the parents is an only child, but limiting the number of offspring is still a prevalent practice, making it difficult to imagine high demand for adopting to increase a burgeoning family.

There needs to be more scrutiny, of course, around couples from other countries - either neighbouring or from overseas in Europe - looking to adopt babies from China, as even if their intentions are innocent or cost-driven, if it encourages baby-farming, it needs to be addressed and limited.

There have been other, related situations in places lilke Thailand, where surrogacy is often sought out by couples from overseas, as the cost of paying a Thai woman to carry a baby is significantly lower than organising a surrogate elsewhere.

You might remember the case of the New Zealand couple, who abandoned their child Gammy, born to a surrogate in Thailand, after they discovered he had special needs.

The black market, from selling illegal drugs, right through to farming illegal babies, is driven by supply and demand, which means we need to assess where exactly the demand is coming from, if we have any hope of stemming the supply.

If we don't many more women and babies will be put at risk.

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