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A South African court will rule on the future of two four-year-old girls who were accidentally switched the day they were born and have been raised by each other's biological mother, officials involved in the case said on Wednesday.


One of the mothers wants to get her biological daughter back, while the other prefers to keep the girl 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 mother, the hospital confirmed, without giving an explanation for the accident.

The families were unaware of the mix-up until one of the mothers underwent tests when her ex-husband refused to pay child maintenance because he believed he was not the father.

"They did a paternity test and it was established that neither party was the parent of the child. They went back to the hospital and it was confirmed they had been swapped at birth," Henk Strydom, the lawyer of one of the mothers, told Reuters.

"She was absolutely devastated. She was traumatized," Strydom added. "My client wants her baby back. She is the biological mother of the child."

But the other mother in the case does not want to exchange the girls, leaving the North Gauteng High Court to decide if the children should be returned to their biological mothers. The names of those involved cannot be published for legal reasons.

The mothers met each other and their 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 Center for Child Law to investigate what would be in the best interests of the children and report back to the judge in 90 days.

"We have been authorized to investigate the matter and to give our report and recommendations. It will be up to the court to make the final decision," a spokeswoman at the center said.

Strydom compared the case with a story in the Hebrew Bible when King Solomon unveils the truth after two women claim to be the mother of a child.

"Someone has to make a very difficult decision. It really is a situation on a biblical scale," Strydom said.


Why are we still having this issue? S. Africa is an industrial country put those bracelets on mother and child!

kuroreo's Waifu

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The mother who did the initial tests wants her biological child back and the other mom wants to keep the child she raised. I feel sorry for the child that seems to be unwanted in this case. She may grow up to have issues of feeling wanted later if this keeps up. It really is a tough call either way. I also have a feeling that the only reason the first mother wants her biological child back is so she can get money from her ex, though I am hoping I am wrong about that.
So the hospital admitted they were switched at birth yet did nothing about it,go after the hospital for negligence there might be more cases like this.

Destructive Detective

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oy. couldn't they just give both women joint custody of the girls or arrange for visitation?

Hilarious Autobiographer

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Jesus. So they both want one child and not the other one. How about we just go nuts and just have four parents?

Malevolent Phantom

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OMG, wouldn't you want the one you raised and bonded with?

Kawaii Shoujo

I'm sorry but this story seriously reminds me of that soap opera Desperate Housewives.

Romantic Werewolf

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Quote:
One of the mothers wants to get her biological daughter back, while the other prefers to keep the girl she has raised.


Well, we know which one helped make the swap! emotion_awesome

Seriously though, I laughed at this:

Quote:
The families were unaware of the mix-up until one of the mothers underwent tests when her ex-husband refused to pay child maintenance because he believed he was not the father. They did a paternity test and it was established that neither party was the parent of the child.


I might actually watch that episode of Maury.

"I'm sorry, but he is NOT....wait....this...this can't possibly be right...........are you sure? Well, all right....we have a first here folks! Daiquan, you are NOT the father! Propecia, you are NOT the mother!"

Receiver

Well how long did they raise the girls?

Quotable Informer

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Pnyuu
Well how long did they raise the girls?
The girls are 4 now. Question is when did the test get preformed? Article not say when it was done.

Squama's Compadre

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    I'm just waiting for the princess and the pauper references now.

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So, I've been thinking about this, and I really think the government should offer the second mother both children and a little government assistance to aide in the initial raising of a second child because that other b***h CLEARLY doesn't deserve to be around kids.

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Quotes and References
    I'm just waiting for the princess and the pauper references now.

We could chop them in half? *dark humor ahead*

Quotable Informer

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Alexander J Luthor
Quotes and References
    I'm just waiting for the princess and the pauper references now.

We could chop them in half? *dark humor ahead*


The Story of Solomon

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xdivision_whitey


The Story of Solomon

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YAY! Reference getters!

I actually kinda hate Solomon. I know the knot is most easily solved with a sword, but I would have ******** loved to sit there and untie it. When I was young my sisters would give me their fine chained necklaces to sort out and I sort of became a mini knot pro. A giant one that takes up half a room? ********. Yeah.

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