Wednesday, 10 November 2004, 14:45 GMT
Dozens of Chinese babies are believed to be taken from or sold by their families each year, as part of a grim human trade. BBC World Service's Outlook programme spoke to 21-year-old Huang Xiuxiu, who was stolen from her family when she was just three.
A lady came and asked me to go and play at her house, and she led me away.
I was three years old at the time, and this is my only memory of being abducted. She bought me a twisted dough stick. Then she took me to the train station and handed me over to a man who seemed to be her husband.
As the train pulled away, I just wanted to go home to my mother.
As a child, I wasn't very happy. My new family didn't know much about my background
Huang XiuxiuI lived with them for a few months, and was then given to another family, living in a rural village in Fujian province.
My new family treated me very well, like a daughter - they became like parents to me.
But in my heart, I knew I had been abducted and sold to them; in my heart, I always knew I had another set of parents, and I really missed them.
I didn't exactly understand what abduction meant. I just knew I had been taken away from my real family. I felt horrible, as if I was a commodity, bought and sold.
As a child, I wasn't very happy. My new family didn't know much about my background - all they knew was I was from Hunan province....
For the remaining article:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3997177.stm
