Shenzhen customs busts agent carrying samples for baby gender testing

Shenzhen customs busted a woman who was carrying 203 tubes of blood samples from pregnant women for testing in Hong Kong to detect the gender of the babies, media reported Wednesday.

After the implementation of the two- child policy, some Chinese parents would like to know their babies’ gender before they decide about the birth. It’s illegal to identity the gender of an unborn baby for non- medical purposes in the Chinese mainland, but it is allowed in Hong Kong. To meet the demand, many agencies are providing the service of carrying blood samples to Hong Kong for testing, according to Huanggang customs officials in Shenzhen.

The middle- aged woman attempted to enter Hong Kong Tuesday afternoon with a bag full of blood tubes which are used for DNA tests, the China News Agency reported, citing customs officials. The woman was paid 100 yuan to 300 yuan each by the pregnant women, the report said.

The case was handed to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

Huanggang customs had seized a total of 262 tubes of blood samples of pregnant woman recently.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission released a directive in 2014 to intensify crack- down on baby gender tests, which clearly prohibiting carrying, mailing and transporting blood samples out of the country.