She tried to sell her baby on Gumtree

A mother has tried to sell her baby on Gumtree for $278,000. She says it was meant as a joke but it has now taken a more serious turn.

The mum called the ad, “baby for sale”. She posted it on Boxing Day and said the item for sale was her four-month-old baby and the sale “comes with everything included”.

When a user asked why she was selling her baby she responded, “Because it cries” and when another user asked if the sale was genuine she confirmed it was.

Gumtree quickly took the ad down but the damage was already done.

Here’s how it appeared:

The joke has quickly backfired on the 20-year-old mum who was reported to authorities by numerous Gumtree users who called the police. Social workers tracked her down and removed the baby and her two-year-old son from her care. As her children were taken the devastated mother tried to explain it was just a joke but authorities weren’t laughing because sadly this mum was already known to social services. Recently separated from her children’s father, she had been struggling to cope.

She told the Daily Mail:

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 Pound150,000. 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.

Despite her claims the ad was a silly joke that backfired, she has also admitted to struggling since the birth of her baby.

Will this dramatic turn of events lead her to get help? Post natal depression is not to be taken lightly and we can’t help but think that her ‘joke’ was a cry for help.

The young mum is desperate to get her boys back. She hasn’t even been allowed to speak with them on the phone. “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.”

It is an offense to try and sell a child in the UK but police haven’t yet laid charges against her and are leaving the matter with social services to deal with.

The mum says she first suffered from post natal depression after the birth of her first son. She contacted social services and was assisted with courses which did help. When she felt herself sinking into a black hole after the birth of her second child she contacted them again but was told she was coping fine.

“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.”

Her mother asked social services if the boys could stay with her until their mother was properly assessed but they refused.

Julie Jenkins, assistant director of children’s specialist services at Bradford council, said, “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.”

Did this mum deserve to have her children taken away from her?