News / Africa
Parents of switched babies in battle on 'biblical scale'
29 May 2014 at 18:32hrs | Views
Two girls who were accidentally switched the day they were born are at the centre of a legal battle in South Africa.
The girls, now aged four, have been raised by each other's biological mothers following the mix-up.
But now one of the mums wants to get her biological daughter back - and the other wants to keep the child she has raised.
The babies were born on the same day in 2010 at the Tambo Memorial Hospital in Johannesburg, but ended up being taken home by the wrong mothers.
But the error was only discovered when one of the women underwent tests when her ex-husband refused to pay child maintenance because he believed he was not the father.
The mums finally met each other and their own biological daughters last year, and have been attending joint therapy sessions arranged by the hospital since December.
The court has asked the University of Pretoria's Centre for Child Law to investigate what would be in the best interests of the children and to report back to the judge in 90 days.
A spokesman said: "We have been authorised to investigate the matter and to give our report and recommendations. It will be up to the court to make the final decision.
Henk Strydom, a lawyer for one of the mothers, compared the case to the Hebrew Bible story when King Solomon threatens to use his sword to cut a lone child in half to settle a dispute between two mother's laying claim to the baby.
He decided the natural mother was the one who threw herself under the blade to save the infant's life.
Strydom added: "Someone has to make a very difficult decision. It really is a situation on a biblical scale."
The girls, now aged four, have been raised by each other's biological mothers following the mix-up.
But now one of the mums wants to get her biological daughter back - and the other wants to keep the child she has raised.
The babies were born on the same day in 2010 at the Tambo Memorial Hospital in Johannesburg, but ended up being taken home by the wrong mothers.
But the error was only discovered when one of the women underwent tests when her ex-husband refused to pay child maintenance because he believed he was not the father.
The mums finally met each other and their own biological daughters last year, and have been attending joint therapy sessions arranged by the hospital since December.
The court has asked the University of Pretoria's Centre for Child Law to investigate what would be in the best interests of the children and to report back to the judge in 90 days.
A spokesman said: "We have been authorised to investigate the matter and to give our report and recommendations. It will be up to the court to make the final decision.
Henk Strydom, a lawyer for one of the mothers, compared the case to the Hebrew Bible story when King Solomon threatens to use his sword to cut a lone child in half to settle a dispute between two mother's laying claim to the baby.
He decided the natural mother was the one who threw herself under the blade to save the infant's life.
Strydom added: "Someone has to make a very difficult decision. It really is a situation on a biblical scale."
Source - Mirror
