Legal Definitions - baby-selling

Baby-selling refers to the illegal practice of exchanging a child for money, property, or any other item or service of significant value. This activity is strictly prohibited by law in all states. It is important to distinguish baby-selling from legitimate adoption processes, where prospective adoptive parents may legally cover a birth mother's pregnancy-related medical expenses, living costs, or legal fees associated with the adoption, as these payments are reimbursements for specific costs, not a purchase price for the child.

Here are some examples illustrating baby-selling:

• Example 1: Direct Cash Transaction

  A couple, unable to conceive, secretly agrees to pay a pregnant woman $50,000 in cash directly to her bank account in exchange for her newborn baby immediately after birth. They plan to falsify birth records to claim the child as their own, completely bypassing any legal adoption agency or court process.

  This illustrates baby-selling because a substantial sum of money is being exchanged directly for the child, outside of any legal adoption framework and without accounting for legitimate pregnancy or adoption-related expenses. The payment is for the child itself.

• Example 2: Exchange for Property

  A single mother facing severe financial hardship offers her two-year-old child to a wealthy acquaintance who has expressed a desire for a child. In return, the acquaintance agrees to transfer the deed to a fully paid-off apartment building into the mother's name.

  This scenario constitutes baby-selling because a child is being exchanged for a valuable piece of property (the apartment building). The transfer of the child is contingent upon receiving a significant asset, which is a direct payment for the child rather than a reimbursement for legal or medical adoption expenses.

• Example 3: Unlicensed Brokerage for Profit

  An individual, posing as an adoption consultant but operating without a license, connects a birth mother with a couple seeking to adopt. This individual charges the adoptive couple a "finder's fee" of $30,000, claiming it's for their "services" in locating the child, in addition to legitimate legal and medical costs. This fee is not tied to any actual, verifiable expenses but is pure profit for facilitating the transfer of the child.

  This demonstrates baby-selling (or baby-brokering) because an unlicensed intermediary is profiting directly from arranging the transfer of a child. The "finder's fee" is an illegal payment for facilitating the exchange of the child, rather than a legitimate reimbursement for services or expenses within a regulated adoption process.