Update | Doctor sold my baby to smuggling ring, says Shaanxi mother

Police in Shaanxi are investigating a cross-province baby smuggling ring after a mother accused a maternity doctor of abducting her new-born baby.

Police in western China’s Shaanxi province said they had arrested three suspects, two of whom were being held in custody, on suspicion of baby smuggling, China Business News reported.

A spokeswoman of Fuping County Police Bureau confirmed to the South China Morning Post that they are investigating the case but declined to disclose more details.

Also under investigation was the deputy director of the maternity department of Maternal and Childcare Hospital in Fuping, who was identified by her surname, Zhang.

A woman who gave birth two weeks ago and her husband were suspicious Zhang was a member of a child smuggling ring. They told the News that on the day their baby was born, both the mother and the baby were found to be infected with hepatitis and syphilis. Zhang told the couple that the sick child would be a financial burden on the family and talked them into signing a letter of consent to give up the child.

Zhang then took the baby away and charged the couple 100 yuan (HK$126.51) to “dispose of the baby”. The couple said they saw Zhang walk out of the hospital carrying the baby later that day, according to the report.