Pipe baby’s dad has DNA test

The newborn baby boy who was rescued from a sewage pipe in Zhejiang Province is undergoing a paternity test after the police identified a man as his potential father, local police told the Global Times on Thursday.

"After a thorough investigation, we are confident, to some extent, that we have found the baby's father. Right now they are undergoing a DNA test. The man has expressed his willingness to raise the baby if their relationship can be confirmed," Xiang Jiangsong, a police officer from Punan police station, in Pujiang county, Zhejiang Province, told the Global Times.

Officer Xiang did not release the name of the man nor the date the test result will be made public.

News portal chinanews.com reported that the alleged father is 25 years old and single. He broke up with the mother six months ago.

The baby was released to his maternal grandparents Wednesday night and is in "good condition," said the police. The grandparents declined interview requests and urged people to "stop paying excessive attention to the baby" so that he can "grow up in a peaceful environment."

The baby fell into the sewage pipe of a public toilet in a building in Pujiang county on Monday after the 22-year-old single mother gave birth alone.

The mother, whose name has not been released, alerted her landlord that something was trapped in the toilet pipe, but she failed to mention it was her baby.

Xiang told the Global Times earlier that the mother was present at the scene for the entire rescue but did not identify herself.

She is suffering from a high fever due to postnatal complications and remains in hospital.