A poor mother of newborn twin girls has been forced to sell one of the children to a staff member from the state-owned Indonesian hospital in which they were born because she did not have enough money to pay her medical expenses.
Suparti, 41, from Gunung Kidul district in Yogyakarta, told state news agency Antara that she gave birth by caesarian section to the twins in the Wonosari General Hospital on June 29 but did not have enough money to pay the Rp 6 million ($662) bill.
While Suparti remained in the hospital for a week, her husband, Sarimin, 50, who makes just Rp 15,000 a day doing odd jobs, attempted in vain to get a loan from relatives.
She said during her stay a staff member from the hospital offered to pay her bill if she allowed one of the twins to be adopted by another hospital employee.
“I had to sell one of my twin girls, who I gave birth to only 10 days ago, because I couldn’t pay the bill at the Wonosari General Hospital,” Suparti said. “On Tuesday, I was allowed to go home. One of my babies was taken by Mbak Rina [the hospital staff member]. I was not allowed to see [my baby],” Suparti said
Suparti said she had to pay the medical bill because she had not registered for Jamkesmas, the national health insurance scheme for the poor.
