Zhang Shuxia, an obstetrician in China, admitted in court that she stole newborn babies from the hospital where she worked and sold them to human traffickers. Zhang convinced parents to “sign and give babies up” by telling them that the newborns had critical health problems.
Zhang was the center of a larger human trafficking ring that involved several provinces in China. Between 2011 and 2013, Zhang sold seven newborns to middlemen who then sold the babies to couples.
A woman revealed Zhang when she thought her baby had been stolen and reported it to police. Zhang had in fact sold the woman’s baby for $3,600.
The Beijing Times urged for a proper punishment for Zhang so that “it will inject the authoritativeness of law into professional ethics of doctors and will warn doctors not to take the wrong step that brings them lifelong regret.”
