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Doctors discover 23 needles embedded in woman

The Chinese woman may be the victim of attempted infanticide.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 11, 2007

BEIJING - Chinese surgeons will try to remove 23 needles from a woman that doctors believe may have been imbedded under her skin by grandparents trying to kill her so that a baby boy might take her place.

The needles - about an inch in length - were discovered by X-ray after Luo Cuifen, 29, went to doctors complaining of blood in her urine.

Many of the needles have worked their way into Luo's vital organs, including her lungs, liver, bladder and kidneys, making their removal difficult, said Qu Rui, a spokesman for the Richland International Hospital in Yunnan province's capital, Kunming.

He said six of the 23 needles, all of them in her abdomen, would be removed today in the first of several expected operations.

"Tomorrow's surgery carries a definite degree of risk," Qu said Monday.

The operation will involve 23 doctors, some from Canada and the United States, in diverse fields, the news release said.

Qu said doctors believe Luo's grandparents, now believed dead, may have inserted the needles long ago, hoping she would die and her parents might have a boy in her place. China limits most families to one child.

In many parts of China, baby boys are still heavily favored over girls because they are bound by tradition to support their parents in their old age and because they carry on the family name.

Infanticide and abortions have created a skewed ratio between the genders, with 119 boys reported born for every 100 girls, according to official figures. By comparison, the ratio in industrialized countries between 104 and 107 boys for every 100 girls.

[Last modified September 11, 2007, 01:11:22]