Mother 'tries to sell baby on internet for £150,000': She says it was a joke - but now both of her children are in care

Single mother put advert on Craigslist on Boxing Day selling baby boy



Hundreds called police and she has now had both sons taken away

However she claims post was a 'silly, silly joke' done as part of a dare

Suffers from postnatal depression and says losing sons is making it worse

A young mother tried to sell her four-month-old boy on the internet for £150,000, it emerged last night.



The 20-year-old advertised the ‘beautiful’ baby for sale on the Gumtree classifieds website on Boxing Day.



Police and social services were alerted after scores of people saw the ad and dialled 999.



Sale: This advert, which appeared on Craigslist on Boxing Day, lead to a woman having her children taken away

Officers traced the woman and took the child and his two-year-old brother into care.



Last night the single mother, who suffers from post-natal depression, said the advert was just a ‘silly joke’ that backfired.



She claimed she had been dared to post it, but had no intention of going through with the sale and has been left devastated that her two sons have been taken away.



The full-time mother from Bradford said: ‘I had been joking with my ex about selling sperm and eggs and he sort of dared me to put up a baby for sale – but I didn’t mean our children.



‘I put on Gumtree that I was selling a baby for £150,000. I just plucked that number out of thin air and I claimed I was acting as an agent for a friend.



‘It was very stupid and I shouldn’t have done it, but I didn’t think it would be taken seriously.



‘I love my boys and they make me so happy and I want them to be happy. It was just a silly, silly joke.



The single mother now claims that it was a 'silly, silly joke' which her ex boyfriend had dared her to do

‘I was crying and begging at this one social worker’s feet, but she just took my son away.



‘I am so upset and just want my boys back. It is my mistake, my stupidity. It should be me who is locked up, not the boys having to live with strangers. This is making my depression even worse.



‘I am so sorry. I have not even been allowed to speak to them on the phone and I don’t know when I’ll see them again. I hope it is soon and they can come back to me.’



The advert appeared on Thursday evening. Initially it read: ‘baby, beautiful for sale deposit through pay pal email only’ and included a £150,000 price tag.



It was later updated to read: ‘baby boy for sale comes with everything included deposit needed as sick of time wasters.’



One shocked user who emailed the mother claimed she replied to say she was selling the child ‘because it cries’.



When asked if the offer was genuine, the mother allegedly confirmed it was because she wouldn’t want to ‘shatter anyone’s dreams’.



Last night the woman, who is separated from the father of her children, told how police arrived to take her two boys away.



She added: ‘I told the police I was depressed and I am known to social services. They must know I would never harm them and wouldn’t sell them.’



It is illegal to buy or sell a child in Britain. Police said last night that no one had been arrested. Instead they said the matter had been passed to social services.



The woman said she first came into contact with social services when she developed post-natal depression following the birth of her first child in 2011.



She claimed she also asked for help from social services after the birth of her second son in August, adding: ‘I asked them if they could help by putting me on a couple of courses, which they had done when I was suffering from post-natal depression with my first son, but they refused, saying I was coping okay. I knew I was struggling.’



The unnamed mother suffers from postnatal depression and says the loss of her boys is making it worse

The woman’s 40-year-old mother, a carer, said: ‘I think this is God testing us. I offered to look after the children, but social services wouldn’t entertain that. The boys should be here.’



She said police told her they would investigate her daughter for human trafficking, adding: ‘She had no intention of selling any child, let alone her own.



'She is suffering from post-natal depression, but that is not why she advertised on Gumtree. It was just a daft joke.’



Gumtree says items forbidden for sale under UK law should not be advertised or sold. It could not be contacted for comment last night.



Detective Inspector Vanessa Smith, of Bradford police, said: ‘The child concerned, who is both fit and well, is being looked after in conjunction with relatives and social services. The mother is receiving appropriate care.’



Julie Jenkins, assistant director of children’s specialist services at Bradford council, added: ‘We worked with the police to establish the safety of the child and we have made sure the child and the family have appropriate support.’



Social services in Bradford came under the spotlight this year following the trial of Amanda Hutton, 43, whose four-year-old son Hamzah Khan was found mummified in 2011. She was jailed for 15 years for manslaughter in October.

