A MUM has discovered her son is alive 17 years after her relatives stole him and told her he was dead.
Zhang Caihong recently learned that her cousin’s sister-in-law took her son away from her after she gave birth nearly two decades ago.
The mum’s tale has sparked outrage on social media in China, South China Morning Post reports.
Before Zhang’s baby was born, she feared her ex and his family might harm her so she decided to move to the safety of her cousin’s home.
But on the day her son was born, her cousin’s sister-in-law reportedly told her that her baby had been born severely disabled.
Zhang, from Jiangsu province in China, said she had no reason to doubt the sister-in-law and she was convinced to give the child up.
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The cousin later lied and told Zhang her son had tragically frozen to death.
But in a dramatic twist, she recently found out her son was still alive and studying at secondary school – and she started looking for the teenager.
The determined mum managed to track him down and a DNA test reportedly confirmed he was her child.
And she then found out that the boy’s “adoptive” mum was the younger sister of her cousin’s wife.
Zhang is now fighting a legal battle to bring her son home.
But the boy’s “adoptive” mother and her husband are demanding Zhang repay the cash they spent raising the boy.
Zhang has refused to pay up on the grounds that they adopted her son illegally.
The mum hopes her cousin and his wife will also be punished for stealing her baby just hours after giving birth.
Zhang’s story has sparked outrage on social media in China.
One said: “Oh my god, what a poor soul Zhang is. Her cousin’s family is just too terrible.”
Another wrote: “Zhang must be very sad 17 years after she lost her baby.”
It comes after another bizarre tale emerged in China about a woman who was abandoned as a toddler.
The 29-year-old has been sued by her estranged parents after she refused to buy her brother a flat.
She was abandoned by her mum and dad when she was two as they reportedly felt they could not support her financially.
But when the daughter bought herself an apartment, her parents demanded she also buy one for her brother.
When Zhang refused, the parents incredibly brought her to court and sued her for 500,00 yuan – which is around £63,000.
The judge ruled that while she was not obligated to buy her brother property, she was legally required to help her mum and dad financially.
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The court said Zhang must negotiate an amount to pay her parents under a “parental maintenance fee”.
This is because under Civil Code in China, adult children have a legal obligation to support their parents regardless of estrangement or abandonment.
