Report: Baby trade in Philippine hospitals

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MANILA, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Babies, even newborns, are being offered for sale outside hospitals in the Philippine capital, an investigative report says.

The baby trade is "rampant" in metropolitan Manila, GMA News said Wednesday.

A woman who identified herself as a baby broker said her usual customers were couples who were unable to have children.

The woman said she had even sold two of her own children, the first for $122, and the second for $490. Pregnant with her third child, she said she planned to sell that baby for $612.

In another instance, one of a group of women at a hospital offered to sell a baby for $612. The broker said the infant should be taken immediately after birth because it was likely to be very beautiful.

Don't meet the mother, either, the agent recommended, because the mother may change her mind and come looking for her child.

GMA News added there had been several kidnappings of newborns from Manila hospitals and reported those infants may become beggars on the streets.

To help reduce kidnappings, some hospitals are now equipping babies with tags that are electronically matched with a tag worn by the mother.

An alarm sounds if the tags become separated by more than a predetermined distance.