The “confiscation” of illegal Chinese babies

Steven W. Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute, writes at The Catholic Lane about the mounting evidence that “illegal” Chinese babies – those conceived and born in violation of the country’s one-child policy – are being abducted, placed in orphanages, and put up for overseas adoptions:

According to a report in the Caixin Century magazine, authorities in the southern Chinese province of Hunan have begun investigating a report that population control officials had seized at least 16 babies born in violation of strict family planning rules, sent them to state-run orphanages, and then sold them abroad for adoption. …

The children, reportedly from Longhui county near Hunan province’s Shaoyang city, had been abducted by [those] who accused their parents of breaching the one-child policy or illegally adopting children. The local family planning office then sent the children to local orphanages, which listed them as being available for adoption, the report said, adding the office could get 1,000 renminbi or more for each child. The orphanages in turn receive $3,000 to $5,000 for each child adopted overseas, money that is paid by the adoptive parents. The magazine reported that at least one migrant worker said she had found her daughter had been adopted abroad and was now living in the United States.

Mosher also notes how other harsh penalties for violating family-planning laws – including fines and forced sterilizations – are taking place in Chinese provinces designated as “Model Birth Control Counties” by the United Nations Population Fund.