Chinese village at centre of illegal surrogacy probe, exploiting deaf-mute, disabled women

A Chinese village at the centre of an illegal surrogacy racket in which disabled women were used as surrogate mothers has sparked public outrage and an official probe.

The racket was exposed on May 12 by an anti-trafficking activist called Shangguan Zhengyi, who has more than 424,000 followers on social media.

The activist alerted the authorities after spending several days monitoring a suspicious cottage in Changsha, Hunan province, central China.

Police raided the property and discovered 16 hospital beds set up for surrogacy-related procedures.

Nine women, including surrogate mothers and egg donors, were found inside the facility.