CHINESE mothers giving birth in the United States becomes a trend for some families, and has also spurred a series of derivative businesses. A Shenzhen maternity matron was tempted to work in the United States, only to find she had been scammed, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

    The woman, surnamed Zhang, has been working as a maternity matron in Shenzhen. She joined a WeChat group to give domestic helpers access to more job information. Zhang saw a message last month in the group that recommended maternity matrons work overseas for an average monthly salary of 50,000 yuan (US$7,245).

    Zhang was thrilled seeing the advertisement, but she worried about the language barrier and the fact that she had never been to the United States. The agency, which released the job information, convinced her to join the program by offering training and a tour to South Korea.

    Zhang was trained for a few days. The agency then asked her for a training fee and commission. Zhang paid 6,000 yuan to the company, but the agency did not give her any legal documents or contracts in return.

    She started negotiating with the agency to withdraw from the service. However, the agency said it would not refund Zhang because they had already arranged the training and a South Korean tour for her.

    Zhang’s family later found out that the agency was not qualified to recommend any staff to work overseas and had cheated Zhang out of money. They lodged a complaint against the agency to local police. After negotiation, the agency returned 4,000 yuan to Zhang.

    The agency said that they were working with an institution in Beijing to send maternity matrons to work overseas. (Zhang Qian)