AN ORPHANAGE in the Highlands says newborn children are being sold for adoption.

The Bible Faith Outreach orphanage says it found a woman, who had bought a baby boy from his mother for less than $40, trying to sell on the child to another woman for three times the price.

Orphanage director Rosa Kepo says the centre intervened and paid the asking price for the infant to stop him being illegally sold.

She says newborns are frequently put up for sale by unmarried mothers, or women who are too poor to support their babies.

Source: Radio Australia