'He will be born evil': China woman aborts child after social media warnings

A Chinese woman has reportedly aborted her baby body after being told on social media that he might have a condition that people often mistakenly associate with aggressive and violent tendencies.

According to a report by South China Morning Post, prenatal checks on the unborn boy revealed that he has the XYY syndrome (also known as Jacob's syndrome), a condition that is mistakenly linked to criminal behaviour.

It all began on July 14, when Jiujiu from Sichuan in southwestern China shared her prenatal examination report on Chinese social media platform Douyin. The report indicated that the baby was highly likely to have the syndrome.

Studies show that people with the the XYY syndrome—found exclusively in males—tend to exhibit impulsive and hyperactive behaviours, but the syndrome is not linked to aggression or psychopathy.

Yet, the nearly 200,000 comments on Jiujiu's post suggested that her child would be 'born evil' because of the syndrome, and many urged her to abort it.

“Children with XYY syndrome have a high tendency to criminal behaviour and often resort to violence,” wrote one person in response to her post on Douyin.

“I support the abortion. Having this child is like placing a time bomb around everyone,” said another," wrote another.

Four days later, Jiujiu decided to terminate her pregnancy.

“Given the uncertainties after birth and my situation as in an ordinary family, I decided to terminate the pregnancy to be responsible to myself and the unborn child,” she was quoted as saying by SCMP.

However, she urged people on social media to not stigmatise the condition—"I hope people will not stigmatise XYY syndrome. You should understand the reality of this condition from a doctor. Regardless, losing the child is a painful experience for me," she said.