Newborn babies for sale outside some Metro Manila hospitals
January 9, 2013 11:30am
Childless couples have a desperate alternative to the legal adoption process: the underground trade in newborn babies.
The buying and selling of babies is rampant around Metro Manila hospitals, GMA Network's "Brigada" program has reported.
A certain "Sarah," who claims to be a broker, told GMA reporter Hadji Rieta that she helps complete deals between buyers and sellers of babies.
Sarah explained that couples who have a hard time conceiving a child are their usual customers.
She even sold her own baby before. Sarah is pregnant again and is already scheduled to sell her baby once more.
“Sa hirap ng buhay, inisip ko din na hindi ko naman kaya alagaan yung anak ko. Hindi ko kayang pakainin [at] pag-aralin kaya ko pinapaampon,” she reasoned out.
She sold her eldest for P5,000 but later regretted the low amount she received for her child.
She sold her second child for P20,000 and she will be selling the child that she is currently bearing for P25,000.
When asked if she felt any guilt about selling her children, Sarah said, “Kapag may pera naman akong kaunti naiisip ko rin yung mga anak ko, bakit ko binenta.”
Sarah said her sibling likened her to a "mother pig," saying “sabi nga po ng kapatid kong isang baboy daw ako na paanakan.”
Happening near hospitals
Rieta asked an undercover asset to confirm information that there were babies for sale near a certain hospital in Manila.
The asset was accompanied to the hospital by Rieta's team but went alone to meet up with a group of women who were baby agents.
One of the agents talked to the asset and offered a baby for 25,000.
She also advised the asset to pay up and take the baby immediately after birth, adding that the unborn baby has high hopes of looking good because the mother is beautiful.
The agent also mentioned that it was important for the mother and the buyer not to meet each other so that the mother cannot look for her child if she changes her mind later.
Sign up with Google
