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The parents of two Cape Town boys are dealing with the emotional and legal fallout of learning that their sons, now 14 years old, were swapped at birth at a city hospital.
Authorities in the Western Cape are investigating the baby-switching incident, confirming this week that an investigation was launched last year. To protect the children, we have decided not to name the parties involved or provide any other identifying information.
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The baby swap was discovered after the father of one of the boys, who was embroiled in a custody battle with the mother, questioned the boy’s paternity because they bore little physical resemblance.
The man demanded a DNA test, which revealed that he was not the father. The woman was also subjected to a DNA test, which revealed that she was not the mother.
In June, the woman was informed that her biological son was being raised in the same neighborhood. “I have bonded with [this child, but] I want to see my blood,” she said. The woman said she was keen to meet the couple raising her biological son. “I want to meet with them so they can perform rituals for their child. This ordeal has caused us both inconvenience,” she said.
This week, the man involved told the media that the thought of his child being raised elsewhere gave him nightmares. “A social worker contacted me and informed me that the child had been found and that they had been switched at birth. She stated that the child is ours psychologically, but biologically he belongs to the other parent, and vice versa,” the father said.
“She said she would call both families to a meeting. Words cannot express how much this has disrupted my life.
“Knowing that my child is being raised by someone else haunts me. I occasionally wake up in the middle of the night. I requested that the social worker provide at least one photograph of this child. But she said I couldn’t see the child,” he said.
“It worries me because this is a boy who needs to go to the mountain. He will require the assistance of his biological family to carry out the necessary rituals.”
He claimed that the baby swap strained his relationship with the child’s mother. “It involved monetary costs as well as the courts,” he said. “I was surprised when I was told that my child had been found. My family was taken aback.”
He expressed excitement about meeting his biological child but admitted that the road ahead would be difficult. “I am worried that this child has been raised differently and that we might struggle to have a parent-child bond with him,” he said. “But at the same time, I was thinking that we should not disturb him now and let him concentrate on his studies, and tell him when he is 18. I just want to [meet] the family that raised him and keep communicating.
“I know how such things derail a kid’s education. It’s a trauma.”
He stated that he was considering suing the hospital. Since 1996, two prominent baby swapping cases have been heard in South African courts, and in both cases, the children have remained with their new parents rather than being returned to their biological family.