Crisis of Baby Trafficking in Iran

This is not just a news story. It is about the sale of newborns around hospitals in Iranian cities. Newborns who, instead of going home to a family waiting for their arrival, are sold for meager amounts, leading to a bitter fate for them. These children are often born to mothers who do not even have money to pay for their hospital discharge. They are homeless, unmarried, lack identification, are addicted, and their withdrawal pains are alleviated by the money from selling their few-day-old child. Recently, Qasem, a resident of Darvazeh Ghar, where baby trafficking is common, answered Radio Farda's question about whether he has ever seen the buying and selling of babies: "Yes, I have seen it. I saw it in Darvazeh Ghar. A woman didn't have money to pay for her child's hospital bill. Or she didn't have money for her child's expenses, so she sold her child. For the hospital bill, for her own expenses. She sold her child because she had no money..." In response to the question of whether he would sell his own child one day, he said: "Yes. Why wouldn't I? Expenses... I have no money. It goes to a good family and will reach somewhere. Some children are taken abroad. Some children are kept at home with them." This is the stark reality of these days in the capital and major cities of Iran, which Fatemeh Daneshvar, head of the Social Commission of the Tehran City Council, spoke about on the evening of November 21, stating that the statistics had increased significantly two months ago, and she was daily informed that municipal officers had arrested a beggar who had a three-day-old baby in his arms that had died, and this beggar was begging with the deceased baby. This deeply disturbed her, and the reports she received from other NGOs prompted her to text Mr. Nahavandian, head of the President's office, asking if they wanted to do something for the children of this city, for the children born in parks. Unfortunately, she received no response. According to Ms. Daneshvar, the mothers of these children are usually addicted to heroin and methamphetamine and often carry the AIDS virus. "What kind of mother is she? A mother who is addicted, a mother who does not want her child, and when the authorities refuse, the mother comes out and sells the child for low amounts." While the news of baby sales draws attention to a child without a future and a dark destiny, the discussion of the mothers of these children is of high importance. I asked Khadijeh Moghadam, a women's rights activist and economic empowerment advocate living in Germany, about the history of mothers who are willing to abandon their children. "Years ago, I prepared a report from maternity hospitals about how many babies are left behind after birth. That is, after giving birth, they leave and go or leave them outside the maternity hospital for the management there to take them and hand them over to social services. What I mean is that there have always been mothers who became pregnant unintentionally, and since there is no legal provision for abortion, the child becomes without identification and faces a thousand other problems due to discriminatory laws against women, the mother is forced to leave the child somewhere. Now, the economic pressure in society has risen to the point that instead of taking the child behind the maternity hospital or behind the orphanage, she sells her child; this is truly a catastrophe." Reports indicate that the conditions of street women and addicts across the country are critical. However, each relevant agency blames the others for negligence. In a television program on Thursday night, Mr. Sajjadi-Nia, the police chief, stated regarding the number of these addicts: "This issue has not been raised for the first time in this way, but if we pay attention to the not-so-distant past, four years ago, there were about 100 women in parks in Tehran who were addicted and homeless, and the total number of addicted homeless people in Tehran was about five thousand. After four years, I can clearly say we have 1,500 addicted homeless women and over 15,000 addicted men." Khadijeh Moghadam believes that class and gender discrimination are the causes of such phenomena and believes that social justice is the solution to social problems in the country: "This issue must be addressed at its roots. Additionally, mothers in this situation who are facing multiple problems must be cared for. NGOs working in this area must be strengthened, created, and allowed to have independent organizations to support affected women." While children born to addicted mothers suffer from various serious diseases, the absence of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in assisting these women is evident. As Jaleh Gohari, a doctor and human rights activist living in Vienna, states, both the mother and the child must be under medical supervision before and after birth: "The issue is the spread of diseases that are truly devastating for a community; a community that has so many addicts. For example, HIV and AIDS, various types of hepatitis B and C, these are not small issues that can be easily overlooked. There must be a project and program for these women to be tested, and if a virus is discovered, then the necessary attention must be given at the time of the child's birth." In the final part of her remarks on Thursday night, Fatemeh Daneshvar criticized social services for being strict in placing children and infants with requesting families and reported the daily sale of a child in Tehran.