14 DAY TRIAL // A single mother from Bradford, UK tried to sell her 4-month-old baby boy on the Internet for $250,000 (€178,000) and ended up having her two children taken away from her by social services, after being considered unfit for parenting.
The 20-year-old mother of two advertised her youngest baby boy on the website Gumtree on Boxing Day, outraging people, who called emergency services alerting police and social services about the gruesome posting.
Officers tracked the woman down and proceeded by taking the for-sale baby boy and his two-year-old brother from her care. When confronted with her horrible actions, the mother accused suffering from post-natal depression and that the advert was just a silly joke that had no intent of being honored.
As an excuse, the 20-year-old said that her ex-boyfriend dared her to post the ad selling her baby and had no intent on going through with the sale. She claimed she was devastated by the social services taking away her two boys and that everything was just a big misunderstanding that backfired.
“I had been joking with my ex about selling sperm and eggs and he sort of dared me to put up a baby for sale – but I didn't mean our children […] It was very stupid and I shouldn't have done it, but I didn't think it would be taken seriously,” the mother of two says, according to Metro News.
The woman claims to have a deep love for her children and that she would never do anything to hurt her boys. She allegedly begged social workers not to take her sons and regrets ever going through with the stupid joke.
The first posting read “baby, beautiful for sale deposit through pay pal email only” and was then changed to “baby boy for sale comes with everything included deposit needed as sick of time wasters” and the price tag of $250,000. One curious viewer emailed the woman asking her for the reason of the outraging sale and the answer he received was “because it cries.”
No arrests were made, but police officers said they would be investigating the woman for human trafficking and that the children were being looked after by social services and relatives. The 20-year-old's mother offered to care for the children but social services preferred to refuse that, at least for the moment.