A Hong Kong couple has been arrested for child neglect after refusing to allow their son, who was born without any medical records, to undergo a DNA test for birth registration.
Security Minister Chris Tang said Reporters on Tuesday afternoon that the couple, who said they were the parents of a baby named Danny, had been arrested in Cheung Sha Wan while the baby was taken to hospital for a health check-up.
Tang said the couple could not provide any medical records of the pregnancy or even a pregnancy photo to prove their parental relationship with the baby.
The child had not had any medical check-ups since birth, which clearly constitutes child neglect, the security chief added.
The couple – identified by local media as Mr Tsang and Ms Kwan – attracted widespread attention after they said online that the Swedish government had taken custody of their daughter, Lily, in 2023.
Saying they haven’t seen their daughter since, the couple posted on Save Lily fibers AND Facebook accounts, appealing for the girl’s return to Hong Kong.
The couple said they practiced “free birth” and their son was born in Hong Kong about two months ago.
Free birth, also called unassisted birth, involves a conscious decision to go through pregnancy and give birth without professional maternity care or medical intervention. of trend has put the lives of mothers and babies at great risk.
According to local media, the couple’s eldest daughter was born at home in Finland but died in infancy and the Swedish government removed their second child, Lily, from their care due to health conditions.
In a written response to HK01, Linköping Municipality in Sweden said that while he could not comment on a specific case, authorities would only ask the court if a child’s situation was so severe that further protection was required and voluntary services were no longer sufficient to prevent harm to the child’s health or the child’s physical and mental development.
Baby Danny has not yet been registered in Hong Kong, although parents MUST register the birth of a newborn within 42 days of birth. Under the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance, it is a criminal offense for anyone to willfully fail to register the birth of a child.
Speaking On Commercial Radio on Tuesday morning, Mr Tsang said he tried to register Danny’s birth within 42 days of birth, but he did not want to submit DNA samples to authorities to verify the relationship between the couple and Danny.
Welfare Minister Chris Sun told the press on Tuesday morning that authorities were aware of the case, but social workers were unable to locate the couple after repeated attempts to visit them.
“We had tried to contact the parents and family through various means since last Thursday. This included social workers making daily home visits – even waiting until almost midnight in one case. We also tried to find them at different times during the morning and afternoon and left different contact details,” Sun said in Cantonese. “However, we were unable to reach them last week.”
Sun said social workers “made contact” with the couple only on Monday and tried to arrange a meeting with them.
