About
Ugly Children Lawsuit Hoax is a fabricated story about a Chinese man who divorced and successfully sued his ex-wife for birthing ugly children. The story began circulating online as early as 2004 and saw a significant resurgence in November of 2013.
Origin
According to the hoax investigation website Snopes,[1] a story about a Chinese man named Jian Feng who sued his wife for bearing unattractive offspring was published as early as June 2004, when it was published in the Heilongjian Morning Post,[2] a newspaper known for publishing urban legends without verification. The article claimed that Feng won a lawsuit against his wife after she confessed to having plastic surgery following the birth of their “ugly baby daughter.”
A Chinese man has divorced and sued his wife for £55,000 after discovering she’d had plastic surgery before they met. Jian Feng, 38, was said to have been “horrified” when she gave birth to an ugly baby daughter. He suspected her of having an affair. His wife then confessed to having plastic surgery costing £70,000 in South Korea before they met and showed him a picture of how she used to look. He filed for divorce two years after marrying her following a whirlwind romance. The Heilongjiang Morning Post said Jian successfully sued for deceit.
Spread
On May 17th, 2012, the Japanese news blog Rocket News 24[3] published an article about a ad for a plastic surgery center in Taiwan featuring a photograph of a family accompanied by the tagline “The only thing you have to worry you about after plastic surgery is the explaining you’ll have to do to your children.”
On October 31st, the Irish Examiner published an article titled “Chinese man sues wife after ‘ugly’ baby born,” which reported that a man named Feng won a $120,000 settlement from suing his wife and featured before and after plastic surgery photographs of the woman (shown below).
In early November 2013, the story resurfaced on several news sites, including The Daily What,[4] the New York Post,[5] The Daily Mail[6] and the Mirror.[7]
Search Interest
External References
[1]Snopes – Ugly Story
[2]Wayback Machine – Man divorces and sues wife over ugly past
[3]Rocket News 24 – Thinking About Plastic Surgery?
[4]The Daily What – Crazy Lawsuit of the Day
[5]New York Post – Man sues wife after she gives him ugly baby
[6]Daily Mail – Chinese Man Sues Wife for Being Ugly