Baby Trafficking Ring-Vietnam

“The Hanoi People’s Court Tuesday opened the trial of a former nurse at the Vietnam National Ob-gyn Hospital who used her position to run a baby trafficking ring.

Nguyen Thi Kim Chi told the court that she had noticed many women having unexpected and unwanted pregnancies while sterile couples pined for children, so she thought of connecting the two, the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper reported

The indictment said that Chi and her husband Dang Quang Hy had conducted four successful transactions between January 2009 and November 2010, earning around US$5,000.

Chi will be charged with baby trafficking under the Penal Code, which carries a wide range of punishments between ten years in jail to life sentence.

In January 2009, Chi took a newborn from Tran Thi Thao and sold him several days later to Pham Van Hoa and his wife for VND35 million (US$1,680).

Chi’s trial had been delayed after she was weakened by a stroke that she suffered after she was arrested for the crime.”

The 59-year-old former nurse said that after she retired, she returned regularly to big ob-gyn hospitals in the capital, getting acquainted with the hospitals’ staff and drivers outside the hospitals and having them introduce unwanted babies to sterile couples.”

Former nurse on trial for baby trafficking in Vietnam
[Thahn Nien News 2/22/12]

Previous Vietnam Trafficking posts can be found here, here  and here.

Stopping the Industry Spin on Bac Lieu Province Adoptions post can be found here.

REFORM Puzzle Piece

This serves as a reminder that doctors, nurses and hospitals are often involved in baby trafficking.