Thread: Indonesia : Heartbreak as Hospital Forces Mother to Sell One of Her Newborn Twins

Heartbreak as Hospital Forces Mother to Sell One of Her Newborn Twins
July 08, 2010

A poor mother of newborn twin girls has been forced to sell one of the children to a staff member from the state-owned Indonesian hospital in which they were born because she did not have enough money to pay her medical expenses.

Suparti, 41, from Gunung Kidul district in Yogyakarta, told state news agency Antara that she gave birth by caesarian section to the twins in the Wonosari General Hospital on June 29 but did not have enough money to pay the Rp 6 million ($662) bill.

While Suparti remained in the hospital for a week, her husband, Sarimin, 50, who makes just Rp 15,000 a day doing odd jobs, attempted in vain to get a loan from relatives.

She said during her stay a staff member from the hospital offered to pay her bill if she allowed one of the twins to be adopted by another hospital employee.

“I had to sell one of my twin girls, who I gave birth to only 10 days ago, because I couldn’t pay the bill at the Wonosari General Hospital,” Suparti said. “On Tuesday, I was allowed to go home. One of my babies was taken by Mbak Rina [the hospital staff member]. I was not allowed to see [my baby],” Suparti said

Suparti said she had to pay the medical bill because she had not registered for Jamkesmas, the national health insurance scheme for the poor.

Jakarta Globe/Antara

thejakartaglobe.com

Jeeze! Hope she doesnt break a leg or that will be another kid gone.

Tremendously sad state of affairs.

Originally Posted by Mid

Suparti said she had to pay the medical bill because she had not registered for Jamkesmas, the national health insurance scheme for the poor.

That's outrageous, they should be able to sign her up there and then.

Originally Posted by Mid

“I had to sell one of my twin girls, who I gave birth to only 10 days ago, because I couldn’t pay the bill at the Wonosari General Hospital,”

Even more outrageous, surely that is Child trafficking and therefore against the law *haha, it is Indo, isnt it*

Makes me sick to the stomach when I hear stories like this. Absolutely sick.

Originally Posted by filch

Tremendously sad state of affairs.

Its not a sad state, its an ILLEGAL act

Babies are not their parents property to sell, or for others to buy.

This fundamental human right seems to pass by a lot of Asian society. A basically uneducated society when it comes to being informed of what their intrinsic rights consist of.

Girls in their late teens who are 'sold' into prostitution by the parents are often oblivious to the fact that they couldn't actually be sold like a chattel, and get conditioned to believing that yes, they do have an obligation to pay off some debt.

Yep, it would be better for the whole family to die of starvation rather the girl sacrifice her “honor” to save them. Good old fashion western individuality over family.

Not that I think it is right for the girl to have to do so, but rather then argue the legality or morality of it, wouldn’t it be better and certainly more useful to do something about the economic situation that brings it about.
TH

Originally Posted by Thaihome

Yep, it would be better for the whole family to die of starvation rather the girl sacrifice her “honor” to save them

sensationalist twaddle

Originally Posted by Thaihome

Good old fashion western individuality over family.

rubbish , family ain't worth squat if this is what they demand .

Originally Posted by Thaihome

Not that I think it is right for the girl to have to do so, but rather then argue the legality or morality of it,

debating the topic serves the purpose of keeping it in the public eye .

Originally Posted by Thaihome

wouldn’t it be better and certainly more useful to do something about the economic situation that brings it about.

indeed and your leadership by example is ?

Justifying this act, whether on the hospital's side or the mother's side is all a bit..

"We had to burn the village in order to save it"

Its a bit like Garry Glitter pointing out that the family of the girls he slept with would have starved had he not done the decent thing.

Taken to the n'th degree, someone committing an awful act with a cash kicker, like either Glitter, or a nurse buying a baby from the nursery could debate that they are doing a Saintly Act.

But i'm not going to debate it. (lest Thaihome is girding himself to do so!!)

Those little girls have laid side by side in their mother's womb for nine months. It is not just the mother's sadness here, it is also her sister's who must miss her and be reaching out to touch her.

Sad story.

cruel and heartless.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.
So much for human rights and democracy anywhere outside of European countries.

Get down there and do something about it SirWilly....offer to buy it back for a grand....I'll chip in a hundred.

I'm not hugely interested in human rights or democracy. Not more so than when I lived in Europe anyway.

Re those twins, no worries. The mother will get it back.

That's part one of two.

July 08, 2010
Made Arya Kencana


Mother Attempts to Sell Child to Pay Medical Bills
Denpasar. A desperate mother being held against her will in a hospital in Bali because she cannot pay her medical bills says she will sell her baby to help cover the delivery expenses.

Munawaroh, a washer women, said on Thursday that she was resigned to the fact she would have to sell her only child to cover her Rp 6 million ($660) medical bill at Darma Sari Hospital in Denpasar.

“What is important is that I get out of the hospital,” she said, adding that her bill grew by Rp 1.5 million for each additional day she remained a virtual prisoner.

She said that the baby, born prematurely after her amniotic sac ruptured, was ill and needed intensive treatment.

Munawaroh, a Surabaya woman who had been living in Bali for three years, said her husband, who has been married seven times, had disappeared after the birth, leaving only his identification card at the hospital.

She said she believed her husband, Hartoyo, a laborer, had returned to his sixth wife, who was also pregnant.

Her ill child had been transferred to the intensive care unit of Sanglah Hospital but an official contacted by the Jakarta Globe could not say whether the baby was being treated or not.


Jakarta Globe

It is a very common practise in Indonesia.

Not more anyway than when I was living in the civilized West.

Where is SirWilly...our knight in tarnished armour.....surely he could go and do something....shirley.....100 bucks, anyone else got a heart ?

I got $20 if they accept PayPal.

$120...

anymore.....come on....give so they shall receive....the other one.