Mother for Sale on China’s Internet

Mother for Sale on China’s Internet
5/22/2007
Updated:
5/22/2007

According to CNR.CN news, a woman from Liaoning Province in mainland China is selling her mother through an online auction to any man who is willing to marry her and is prepared to pay for all her medical expenses as she is suffering from cancer.

With her mother’s consent, Du Chunmei, 31, said that since she could not afford thousands of RMB in medical expenses and was desperate to save her mother’s life, she felt that the only way was to sell her mother on the Internet.

Du said that she and her brother had spent all their savings on their father who also suffered from cancer. They borrowed money from neighbors and relatives. Later, their father passed away and now they are heavily in debt and have nowhere to turn to for help, and so have turned to the Internet.

This “mother-for-sale” advertisement online has attracted the attention from many mainland Internet surfers, and has triggered heated debate. Some people criticized this kind of action, saying this discarded the entire Chinese traditional filial piety. But some believe this is a good way to attract the media’s attention and to seek help.

Over the past 20 years, medical costs in mainland China have risen tremendously. But the social welfare system has not been synchronized with the price increase. Therefore it has become more difficult for people in poverty to obtain medical care.