BEIJING, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Chinese doctors will try to remove 26 needles found throughout the body of a young woman which they suspect were inserted just after she was born to kill her for not being a boy.

"At the time, we thought my grandparents did it because they wanted a son, but they've already died and we haven't found any clues," the Beijing Morning Post on Friday quoted victim Luo Cuifen as saying.

Luo, a 29-year-old farmer from the province of Yunnan, said at least two needles had been pulled from festering wounds on her abdomen when she was a young child.

"There are still 26 needles in my body, and they were probably inserted three days after I was born," she added, without explaining how she could give a precise day.

Luo said she had never felt the needles and they were only found by x-ray when she went into hospital complaining of blood in her urine.

Some had broken off and are "floating" around her body. Others had pierced her liver, kidneys, lungs and intestine, the report said.

Next week, doctors will operate for free on Luo, who comes from a poor village, fearful that her life may be in danger if they do not act, the newspaper said.

Despite decades of government campaigns to push equality, many Chinese still prefer to have male children and abort female foetuses, which has led to serious gender imbalances in parts of the country.