Woman's baby not snatched, pregnancy faked

Anhui police refuted the rumor Sunday that a mother-to-be claimed her unborn baby was stolen after she was drugged by strangers in Taihe county, Anhui Province.

An investigation showed that the woman was not pregnant at all, and that she staged the incident herself, according to the Anhui police microblog.

The 24-year-old woman, surnamed Hua, had an abortion when she was four months pregnant, after she found the fetus had a physical defect. She kept the secret from the family and pretended to still be pregnant. Fearing that her secret would be brought to light, Hua allegedly made up the accident to cover up her fake pregnancy.

"Her motivation is understandable. Chinese families pay particular attention to their descendants; if a woman gets pregnant at first but loses it months later, it would be quite a heavy blow to the whole family," said Wang Yuru, who specializes in family issues and serves as secretary-general of the Shanghai Psychological Counseling Association.

Hua's 28-year-old husband reported to local police last Wednesday that his wife had been missing for 10 hours after she went to hospital for an obstetrical examination in the morning. The family received a message from Hua's cellphone, saying she was safe but the baby had been taken away.

At around 10 pm, Hua called back, crying, claiming she had been drugged and the baby had disappeared. Her family suspected that she was injected with medicine to expedite the delivery.

The story was revealed by Web users on the Internet during the weekend, drawing immense attention as many suspected the baby could be stolen by criminals to sell for a profit.

Many media outlets, including national level website or television stations, forwarded the rumor without verification.

"It was a classic rumor whose spread was fueled by media. Anyone with common sense would suspect the authenticity of the story, since the possibility of performing surgery to take a baby away when a pregnant woman is in coma was quite low," Wang Sixin, an Internet expert at the Communication University of China, told the Global Times.

"As long as the news is eye-catching, media will report even if it is suspicious," said Wang Sixin, adding that such an act was both unprofessional and irresponsible.