# Child harvesting

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Sale of human children

This article is about the systematic sale of human children. For the practice of accepting custody of an infant or child in exchange for payment, see [baby farming](/source/Baby_farming).

**Child harvesting** or **baby harvesting** refers to the systematic sale of [human children](/source/Human_children), typically for [adoption](/source/Adoption) by families in the [developed world](/source/Developed_world), but sometimes for other purposes, including [trafficking](/source/Trafficking_of_children). The term covers a wide variety of situations and degrees of economic, social, and physical coercion. Child harvesting programs or the locations at which they take place are sometimes referred to as **baby factories** or **baby farms**.

## Methods

See also: [Child laundering](/source/Child_laundering)

After a child is obtained through differing methods mentioned below, the identity of the child or the parent or both are altered in a process known as [child laundering](/source/Child_laundering).

### Baby factories

Women can become pregnant with the intent of selling their babies, willingly or forcibly. The facilities where the babies are delivered and sold are known as "baby factories" or "baby breeding farms". They might be disguised as maternity homes, orphanages, clinics and small scale factories.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] The practice is often driven by poverty. In some cases there is overlap with [commercial surrogacy](/source/Commercial_surrogacy), where the male partner buying the baby also provides the sperm.[1] Illegal street clinics such as this exist in [Kenya](/source/Kenya).[2] A company called Baby101 had a baby factory in Thailand busted by police in 2011.[1] Baby factories operating through social media were documented in Malaysia in 2016.[3] Most of the discovered baby factories have been found in Southern Nigeria, with high incidence in [Ondo](/source/Ondo_State), [Ogun](/source/Ogun_State), [Imo](/source/Imo_State), [Akwa Ibom](/source/Akwa_Ibom) [Abia](/source/Abia_State) and [Anambra](/source/Anambra).[4]

Baby factories have sometimes tricked or abducted women to be raped in order to sell their babies.[5][6] In 2008, a network of baby factories claiming to be [orphanages](/source/Orphanage) was revealed in [Enugu](/source/Enugu_(city)), [Enugu State](/source/Enugu_State) ([Nigeria](/source/Nigeria)), by police raids.[7][8][9] In June 2011, in [Aba, Nigeria](/source/Aba%2C_Nigeria), 32 pregnant girls were freed from a baby farm that claimed to help pregnant teenagers but would then force them to give their babies.[10][11][12] In October 2011, seventeen pregnant women (thirty according to some sources[13][14]) were found in [Ihiala](/source/Ihiala), [Anambra](/source/Anambra_State), in a hospital of the *Iheanyi Ezuma Foundation*.[15] Five more baby factories were discovered in 2013, and eight more were discovered in 2015.[4]

### Kidnapping

Organized rings in [Nairobi](/source/Nairobi) are known to abduct the children of [homeless](/source/Homeless) mothers. This is usually while the families are sleeping on the street but also through gaining the trust of the mother.[2] In 1990s, it was rumored that child snatchers commonly roamed the country in Guatemala, which has lax laws regulating adoption.[16] In the 1980s, staff in some hospitals in [Sri Lanka](/source/Sri_Lanka) were involved in rackets of kidnapping newborns for international adoptions. They informed the biological mothers that the newborns had died and paid other women to act as the real mothers.[17] The state can also be involved in such schemes. During the [One Child Policy](/source/One_Child_Policy) in China, when women were only allowed to have one child, local governments would often allow the woman to give birth and then they would take the baby away. Child traffickers, often paid by the government, would sell the children to orphanages that would arrange international adoptions worth tens of thousands of dollars, turning a profit for the government.[18]

### Matching unwanted children

See also: [Child selling](/source/Child_selling)

Women who have a child or are [pregnant](/source/Unwanted_pregnancy) with a child which they feel they are unable or unwilling to care for have been approached to instead deliver the baby to be sold to those looking for a child. Cited factors driving this from the biological mothers' side are financial hardship,[19] the lack of contraception access and stigmatization of teenage pregnancies.[4] [Immigrant](/source/Illegal_immigration) [sex workers](/source/Sex_worker) in [Malaysia](/source/Malaysia) who get pregnant have entered into such exchanges as it is illegal for them to bear children.[3] Sometimes those approaching them pose as maternity clinics, orphanages or social shelters.[19] Often those approaching them are actual healthcare professionals. Police broke such a scheme in hospitals from [Gwailor](/source/Gwailor), India, and Egypt in 2016 and 2012, respectively.[20][21] Indonesian police uncovered a baby trafficking ring in 2025.[19]

## Markets

### Adoption

Child harvesting is particularly associated with and prevalent in some [international adoption](/source/International_adoption) markets.[22][23][24] Factors driving this on the adopted parents' side are a stigmatization of childless couples, the costs of [assisted reproductive technology](/source/Assisted_reproductive_technology) such as [in vitro fertilization](/source/In_vitro_fertilization), and difficulties in adoption such as cultural acceptance, legality,[21] or administrative difficulty.[25]

### Forced labor

See also: [Prostitution of children](/source/Prostitution_of_children)

Child harvesting may also be involved in situations in which children are trafficked to provide [slave labor](/source/Slave_labor).[12][7] This could include in [begging](/source/Begging) syndicates,[3] [plantations](/source/Plantation), [mines](/source/Mining), [factories](/source/Factories), as [domestic workers](/source/Domestic_worker), or as [sex workers](/source/Prostitution_of_children).[12][7]

### Ritual sacrifices

There have been allegations that some child harvesting programs provide infants to be [tortured](/source/Torture) or [sacrificed](/source/Sacrifice) in [black magic](/source/Black_magic) or [witchcraft](/source/Witchcraft) rituals; this seems to be a concern in Nigeria.[11][15][10][26]

## See also

- [Child labour](/source/Child_labour)

- [Child laundering](/source/Child_laundering)

- [Child-selling](/source/Child-selling)

- [Child trafficking](/source/Child_trafficking)

- [Commercial sexual exploitation of children](/source/Commercial_sexual_exploitation_of_children)

- [Human trafficking in Nigeria](/source/Human_trafficking_in_Nigeria)

- [Trafficking of children](/source/Trafficking_of_children)

- [Lebensborn](/source/Lebensborn)

- [List of international adoption scandals](/source/List_of_international_adoption_scandals)

- [Surrogacy](/source/Surrogacy)

- [Assisted reproductive technology](/source/Assisted_reproductive_technology)

- [Adoption](/source/Adoption)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-BangkokTheHuffingtonPost_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-BangkokTheHuffingtonPost_1-1) ["'Inhumane' Thai Baby Breeding Farm Busted"](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/vietnamese-women-freed-fr_n_827595). *[HuffPost](/source/HuffPost)*. 2011-02-24. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240526060828/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/vietnamese-women-freed-fr_n_827595) from the original on 2024-05-26. Retrieved 2025-04-27.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-bbcnews1_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-bbcnews1_2-1) Murimi, Peter; Gunter, Joel; Watson, Tom (2020-11-15). ["The baby stealers"](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54892564). *[BBC News](/source/BBC_News)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250409143757/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54892564) from the original on 2025-04-09. Retrieved 2024-04-08.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Malaysia_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Malaysia_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Malaysia_3-2) ["Malaysia: Babies for Sale"](http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/101east/2016/11/malaysia-babies-sale-161124133921861.html). [*101 East*](/source/101_East). 24 November 2016. [Al Jazeera Media Network](/source/Al_Jazeera_Media_Network). Retrieved 29 November 2016.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-makinde_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-makinde_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-makinde_4-2) Makinde, Olusesan Ayodeji; Olaleye, Olalekan; Makinde, Olufunmbi Olukemi; Huntley, Svetlana S.; Brown, Brandon (2015-07-24). ["Baby Factories in Nigeria: Starting the Discussion Toward a National Prevention Policy"](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1524838015591588). *Trauma, Violence, & Abuse*. **18** (1): 98–105. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1177/1524838015591588](https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1524838015591588). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1524-8380](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1524-8380). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [26209095](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26209095).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Nigeria 'baby factory' raided in Lagos"](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43905606). 2018-04-26. Retrieved 2023-12-05.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Nigerian's battle to keep her baby"](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-19718084). *BBC News*. 2012-09-25. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250419110234/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-19718084) from the original on 2025-04-19. Retrieved 2023-12-05.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NigeriaAFP_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NigeriaAFP_7-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-NigeriaAFP_7-2) ["Nigerian 'baby factory' raided, 32 teenage girls freed"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110608181437/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5joyO03Khbbuw9SmkX-ce_PdamESQ?docId=CNG.3fe18ab5af9d3cb2bd07a5efa1d18035.651). *[AFP](/source/Agence_France-Presse)*. 2011-06-08. Archived from [the original](http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5joyO03Khbbuw9SmkX-ce_PdamESQ?docId=CNG.3fe18ab5af9d3cb2bd07a5efa1d18035.651) on 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2025-04-27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-NigeriaFoxNews_8-0)** ["Police Raids Reveal Alleged Network of 'Baby Farms'"](https://web.archive.org/web/20081205074043/http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24650838-23109,00.html). *[AFP](/source/Agence_France-Presse)*. 2008-11-14. Archived from [the original](http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24650838-23109,00.html) on 2008-12-05. Retrieved 2025-04-27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-NigeriaCBSNews_9-0)** Reals, Tucker (2011-06-02). ["32 teens freed in Nigeria "baby factory" raid"](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/32-teens-freed-in-nigeria-baby-factory-raid/). *[CBS News](/source/CBS_News)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220718195018/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/32-teens-freed-in-nigeria-baby-factory-raid/) from the original on 2022-07-18. Retrieved 2025-04-27.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Nigeria1_10-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Nigeria1_10-1) Smith, David (2 June 2011). ["Nigerian 'baby farm' raided – 32 pregnant girls rescued"](https://www.theguardian.com/law/2011/jun/02/nigeria-baby-farm-raided-human-trafficking). *The Guardian*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20241218145635/https://www.theguardian.com/law/2011/jun/02/nigeria-baby-farm-raided-human-trafficking) from the original on 2024-12-18. Retrieved 2025-04-27.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NigeriaBBC_11-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NigeriaBBC_11-1) ["Nigeria 'baby farm' girls rescued by Abia state police"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13622679). *BBC News*. 2011-06-01. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20241010173756/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13622679) from the original on 2024-10-10. Retrieved 2025-04-27.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NigeriaDailyNews_12-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NigeriaDailyNews_12-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-NigeriaDailyNews_12-2) Caulfield, Philip (June 2, 2011). ["Police in Nigeria free 32 pregnant teens from 'baby factory;' newborns sold into labor, sex markets"](http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-02/news/29631752_1_pregnant-teens-human-trafficking-teen-girls). *[New York Daily News](/source/New_York_Daily_News)*.{{[cite news](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_news)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Nigeria247ureports_13-0)** ["Police Arrest 30 Pregnant Teenagers, Proprietor At Anambra Motherless Home"](http://247ureports.com/2011/10/police-arrest-30-pregnant-teenagers-proprietor-at-anambra-motherless-home/). *247ureports*. 2011-10-15. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20241130063921/http://247ureports.com/2011/10/police-arrest-30-pregnant-teenagers-proprietor-at-anambra-motherless-home/) from the original on 2024-11-30. Retrieved 2025-04-27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-NigeriaTheGuardianN_14-0)** Collins, Chuks (2011-10-16). ["Police arrest 30 pregnant teenagers, others at motherless babies home"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130916152258/http://odili.net/news/source/2011/oct/16/7.html). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian_(Nigeria))*. Archived from [the original](http://odili.net/news/source/2011/oct/16/7.html) on 2013-09-16. Retrieved 2025-04-27.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NigeriaNews24_15-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NigeriaNews24_15-1) ["Nigerian baby factory raided"](https://www.news24.com/News24/Nigerian-baby-factory-raided-20111015). *[News24](/source/News24_(website))*. 2011-10-16. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160527065133/http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Nigerian-baby-factory-raided-20111015) from the original on 2016-05-27. Retrieved 2025-04-27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-GuatemalaTheGuardian_16-0)** Tuckman, Jo (2007-03-14). ["£700 for a child? Guatemalan 'baby factory' deals in misery and hope"](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/mar/14/jotuckman.international). *The Guardian*. p. 25. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0261-3077](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0261-3077). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240503225922/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/mar/14/jotuckman.international) from the original on 2024-05-03. Retrieved 2025-04-27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** McVeigh, Karen (2017-09-20). ["'There were a lot of baby farms': Sri Lanka to act over adoption racket claims"](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/sep/20/baby-farms-sri-lanka-admits-adoption-racket-claims). *The Guardian*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0261-3077](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0261-3077). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250101123132/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/sep/20/baby-farms-sri-lanka-admits-adoption-racket-claims) from the original on 2025-01-01. Retrieved 2024-05-14.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** [Reason TV](/source/Reason_TV) (2019-08-16). [*'One Child Nation' Exposes the Tragic Consequences of Chinese Population Control*](https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211029/RdkHA_-xryk). Archived from [the original](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdkHA_-xryk) on 2021-10-29.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-bbc0725_19-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-bbc0725_19-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-bbc0725_19-2) ["'Reserved in the womb' and sold for £500: Police bust baby trafficking ring"](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq536dew1l4o). *[BBC News](/source/BBC_News)*. 2025-07-17.{{[cite news](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_news)}}: CS1 maint: url-status ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_url-status))

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1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Egypt_21-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Egypt_21-1) ["Egypt police bust baby trafficking ring"](http://www.news.com.au/world/breaking-news/egypt-police-bust-baby-trafficking-ring/news-story/256ad561cc9f520561457448a41f6554). *[AAP](/source/Australian_Associated_Press)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20241130094237/https://www.news.com.au/world/breaking-news/egypt-police-bust-baby-trafficking-ring/news-story/256ad561cc9f520561457448a41f6554) from the original on 2024-11-30. Retrieved 2025-04-27.

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1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** Makinde, Olusesan Ayodeji; Olaleye, Olalekan; Makinde, Olufunmbi Olukemi; Huntley, Svetlana S.; Brown, Brandon (July 24, 2015). ["Child harvesting"](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1524838015591588). *Trauma, Violence, & Abuse*. **18** (1): 98–105. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1177/1524838015591588](https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1524838015591588). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1524-8380](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1524-8380). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [26209095](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26209095). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [9985947](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:9985947).

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## External links

- *[Baby factories: How pregnancies, deliveries are framed](https://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/baby-factories-how-pregnancies-deliveries-are-framed/)* at [Vanguard](/source/Vanguard_(Nigeria))

- [Video: *The Nigerian Connection II*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw-aaFPLOdw) (18:15–23:10) of [Al Jazeera](/source/Al_Jazeera_English)

- Makinde, Olusesan Ayodeji; Olaleye, Olalekan; Makinde, Olufunmbi Olukemi; Huntley, Svetlana S.; Brown, Brandon (2017). "Baby Factories in Nigeria". *Trauma, Violence, & Abuse*. **18** (1): 98–105. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1177/1524838015591588](https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1524838015591588). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [26209095](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26209095).

- Makinde, Olusesan Ayodeji; Makinde, Olufunmbi Olukemi; Olaleye, Olalekan; Brown, Brandon; Odimegwu, Clifford O. (2016). "Baby factories taint surrogacy in Nigeria". *Reproductive Biomedicine Online*. **32** (1): 6–8. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.rbmo.2015.10.001](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.rbmo.2015.10.001). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [26602942](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26602942).

- Makinde, Olusesan Ayodeji (2016). "Infant Trafficking and Baby Factories: A New Tale of Child Abuse in Nigeria". *Child Abuse Review*. **25** (6): 433–443. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1002/car.2420](https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fcar.2420).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Child harvesting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_harvesting) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_harvesting?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.