"I didn't know this was illegal," they said.

Babies: who needs 'em?

Those doughy blobs don't do much more than excrete. Wouldn't you rather have a nice motorcycle instead? Or maybe an iPhone with an average amount of storage so you could Instagram all god damn day, brah? Or even both so you could Instagram photos of your new bike … and the baby you no longer have because you sold it for iPhone money?

Well, we don't want to speak for you, but that's exactly what one Chinese couple was thinking when they sold their 18-day old infant daughter to buy both a motorcycle and the pride and joy of Apple.

"I had no idea this was illegal," the unnamed mother told local media.

Turns out it's pretty illegal, but also pretty easy to sell your unwanted babies in China. All the young couple had to do was start looking for a potential buyer on Chinese messaging app QQ, where  they quickly found an interested party who said he wanted to purchase the baby as a child for his sister. The father and the online buyer met and completed the transaction, selling the little bundle of joy for approximately $3,500. Hellloooo new iPhone!

Chinese police managed to track down the young couple and arrested both the mother and the father to bring them in court. The judge sentenced the father to three years in jail while the mother received a two and half years suspended prison sentence because she hasn’t completed her studies. The buyer, upon hearing of their arrest, decided to turn himself in, but it's unclear whether he'll be facing any charges himself.

But perhaps most interesting is that the judge ruling on their case decided to let the buyer's sister keep the child because of the … ahem … difficulties they were facing.

iPhones are pretty cool, you guys. In fact, every iPhone in circulation today is equipped with more technology than it took to complete the Apollo 11 moon landing. But that doesn't mean that you can't deal with your shitty flip phone for a couple of months while you save up for one. Don't sell your daughters, people. Before you it, they'll be out of your hair … in eighteen years. Just chill.

Image cred: NY Mag