At first, the father attempted to cover the baby's face with a wet towel (Representational photo: file)

Beijing: A man in China has been arrested for trying to kill his child three times after he came to know the newborn was an intersex baby - born with both male and female genitals.

After the child was found to be an intersex baby, his father and grandfather attempted to kill the child three times before the mother contacted authorities, the police said.

The father was detained and the grandfather was released pending trial, state-run China Daily reported. The baby was born on May 13 in Anyang in Henan province.

"We thought we would have a girl. But soon we were told the 'girl' is actually a boy, with an atrophic sex organ. We panicked and got concerned," the mother, Yang Xiaoqing said, adding that her husband attempted to smother the baby because "he is neither a boy nor a girl", but a "monster".

The father at first attempted to cover the baby's face with a wet towel. Yang heard the baby's crying and stopped her husband.

"When I heard my son cry, I was in pain. My wife cried and I gave up," he was quoted as saying. Three days later, he again attempted to smother the infant, covering his face with a wet towel and diapers, and wrapping him up in a blanket, Yang said, and she stopped him again.

"He could not bear to kill his own flesh and blood after all, and my father-in-law took over," Yang recalled. She found her baby was missing and called police.

The police said they later discovered the baby's grandfather had abandoned him outside the village.

"After he was found, he did not eat for 12 hours. I was holding the baby. My heart is broken. He may be a monster to others, but to me, he is and will always be my sweetest baby," the mother said. The couple also have a daughter.

"We are in a difficult situation. My husband was locked up, my parents have health issues and the two children need someone to take care of them. But what I worry about most is that my son may suffer discrimination when he grows up," Yang said.

"Intersex cases are extremely rare. Surgery depends on diagnoses," said Li Jianning, director of the Department of Plastic Surgery at Beijing University Third Hospital.

"It is still a stigma in Chinese society. They are being labeled as neither male nor female," Li said.