Burden of Birth

According to a investigation conducted by Thanh Nien reporters, Nguyen Thi Thuyen, who lives in Ung Hoa District’s Vien An Village of Ha Tay Province, has been manipulating and luring countless youngsters for nearly 14 years to not commit abortions and instead give birth to prized “human goods” to be purchased and traded widely.

“I’ll send your girlfriend to a place in Ha Dong City,” Thuyen told Thanh Nien reporters, who approached Thuyen as a couple wanting to put their newborn up for sale.

“Don’t worry. I’ll loan you about VND500,000 to VND600,000 every month until the girl gives birth and I’ll even take her to the hospital myself.”

Thuyen said the baby could be secretly sold to a Hanoi couple, as the husband became infertile after an accident.

“Since this couple cannot let their relatives know, when your girlfriend is about to give labor, I will set up the lawyer’s wife to stay next to her in the hospital. Your girlfriend must leave in secret upon giving birth so that this family can officially prepare paperwork for the baby,” Thuyen explained.

According to Thanh Nien sources, this network maintains five to six baby suppliers in the village of Vien An.

A female baby is usually purchased at around VND8 million while a male one is worth VND10 million.

Thuyen then resells the infant to another family, at a price of between VND20 million and VND25 million.

To boost the babies’ prices, Thuyen even advertises the infants’ real parents to the buyers, especially if the parents are educated and considered to be “good looking.” She moreover owns at least five residences located across Ha Tay Province where she houses over 10 young pregnant women.

Portrait of a baby trader

As Thuyen revealed several certificates signed by government officials and obtained by families who want to buy babies, it appeared that Thuyen has been colluding with local officials, doctors and nurses in hospitals to operate the network.

Formerly the principal of the village’s preschool, Thuyen currently works at the Ha Tay Center for Social Beneficiaries Caring, where her husband serves as the director.

One of the duties carried out by the center is to process adoption requests and prospective matches.

Thuyen’s husband had been previously suspended some time before November 2007 for tainting adoption procedures.

In her village, Thuyen possesses an air of authority that most residents fear.

According to a government official from the village who wants to remain anonymous, the trafficking network is renowned for its ability to simplify procedures and confidentiality.

After a child is sold, Thuyen usually never re-contacts either the adoptive family or the baby’s real mother.

Interviews with Vien An’s residents unearth the possibility that some babies sold by this network are being resold abroad.

In the past, several child kidnapping cases had occurred in the village.

Exploitation stories

The young pregnant women who sustain this network choose to sell their babies for various reasons.

Some formerly worked as prostitutes, other low-income factory workers or college students got pregnant unexpectedly.

After signing a contract, the girls often room in pairs requiring around VND500,000 to cover their living expenses.

After giving birth, the girls must repay the living expenses and hospital fees, thus gleaning little profit from their sold offsprings.

Some are even made to work during their pregnancy and must live in dilapidated rooms, like the one Thuyen showed Thanh Nien reporters.

A dark room hidden behind a food court located at 6A Highway, Yen Phuc Hamlet, Bien Giang Village, Thanh Oai District, had served as a temporary home to two girls.

Spread out over an area of about seven square meters without any window, the room was formerly occupied by Hoang Thi Thuy, who had recently given birth and refused to discuss her situation.

Her sister, however, told Thanh Nien that some women’s children were taken away without payment.

“Thuyen usually inflates the girls’ expenses and cuts the amount of money they can receive afterwards,” Thuy’s sister said.

“Sometimes the girls receive nothing.”

Broad network

Tuyen, one of the network’s traffickers, said that Thuyen capitalizes on wide connections, which extend as far as Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ officials, to offer babies to foreign couples.

“We don’t earn that much by just focusing on the domestic couples,” Tuyen said.

“Thuyen has signed contracts with thousand of students I can’t even count how many.”

Some mothers are too poor to keep their children, but refuse abortions in hope that their newborns would be able to enjoy a life they cannot personally offer.

“Thuyen told me that this child will be put into a center and I will receive VND7 million,” said a 23-year-old named Hai, whose boyfriend ran away after learning about her pregnancy.

“I accept the fact that I am not able to raise this child.”