Share
News

Mix-up Swaps Baby in Hospital. Now Parents Refuse to Trade Back

Share

A DNA test proved that two baby boys were switched at birth on March 11, 2015, at the Mongoldoi Civil Hospital in Assam, India.

On that fateful day in 2015, schoolteacher Sahabuddin Ahmed and his wife, Salma Parveen, welcomed their son into the world. But when the couple left the hospital, somehow they ended up leaving with another couple’s baby.

Ahmed and his wife became suspicious about a week after coming home from the hospital. Ahmed recalled his wife’s tearful lament that the baby didn’t resemble their family, but rather the face of a Bodo woman who had given birth on the same day.

“A week after we came back from the hospital, I found my wife crying, saying the baby did not belong to her as he looked different,” Ahmed explained. “He had small eyes, a tribal feature.”



Trending:
KJP Panics, Hangs Up in Middle of Interview When Reporter Shows He Isn't a Democratic Party Propagandist

The hospital dismissed Ahmed’s concerns, suggesting instead that his wife needed a mental checkup. Ahmed launched his own investigation, which led him to a Bodo couple who had given birth on the same day: Anil and Sewali Boro.

“They invited us home and, after seeing the babies, were convinced there had been a mix-up,” Ahmed explained. But the child’s grandmother “refused to accept the truth,” Ahmed recalled.

The babies had just celebrated their first birthdays by the time DNA testing concluded. The results of the DNA test, which confirmed the boys indeed had been switched at birth, came in November 2016.

But despite the confirming evidence, the parents involved decided that family is more than blood. That wasn’t their original decision, though.



At first, the families agreed they should probably switch their sons back. On Jan. 4, 2018, the families met in court to make the exchange official.

But the scene became too emotional for everyone involved, and the families decided not to part with the boys they have called their own for 2.5 years.

“The children cried a lot, we thought this way the children will die,” Ahmed said of the moment the boys were placed in the arms of their birth mothers.

“We tried to see the reaction of the babies by swapping them, but they wouldn’t leave the mothers who raised them,” Ahmed’s wife Parveen added. “We will not switch them again.”

Related:
Islamic Extremists Abduct at Least 200 People, Most of Them Women and Children

The Boro family echoed similar sentiments. “We have decided not to part with our son,” Sewali Boro said.

“I’ve raised Rakesh and breastfed him,” she expressed. “How can I live without him?”

The couples will meet in court again on Jan. 24. This time, they will make their forever families permanent. Despite the well-known Muslim-Bodo strife in that area, these two families have managed to focus on what really matters.

Proud father Anil Boro summed up the story beautifully: “We understand only one thing — humanity,” Boro expressed. “This universe is all about humanity.”

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
,
Share
A graduate of Grand Canyon University, Kim Davis has been writing for The Western Journal since 2015, focusing on lifestyle stories.
Kim Davis began writing for The Western Journal in 2015. Her primary topics cover family, faith, and women. She has experience as a copy editor for the online publication Thoughtful Women. Kim worked as an arts administrator for The Phoenix Symphony, writing music education curriculum and leading community engagement programs throughout the region. She holds a degree in music education from Grand Canyon University with a minor in eating tacos.
Birthplace
Page, Arizona
Education
Bachelor of Science in Music Education
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Lifestyle & Human Interest




Conversation