You may not be ready to have children just yet, but picture the day when you are: you/your wife have just been through nine indescribable months, a grueling night of labour, and it’s finally time to take your precious newborn home and welcome him/her into this world.

And then you realise a couple of years later that the little brat, who’s throwing a tantrum because you said no to an extremely overpriced toy, isn’t even yours.

IMAGINE!

This has happened recently between two mothers in Gauteng. Living in ignorance for three years, while suing her ex for maintenance for her younger child, one of the mothers found out her child wasn’t hers through a DNA test.

The hospital confirmed that her child had been swapped with a girl born on the same day.  There aren’t clear details on how this happened just yet.

The mothers met last year and have been attending joint therapy sessions, arranged by the hospital, since December. They have met their biological daughters.

The one mother “became unhappy” with the process and approached the children’s court in a bid to exchange the child she has been caring for since birth. The other mother refused.

This isn’t the first baby-swap incident in South Africa. This happened when two mothers had their sons swapped in Johannesburg in 1989. They received handsome compensation for the damages in 1995.

This has, without a doubt, caused trauma to the families and most of all, the mothers of the children:

“As a result”, said the child law centre, “litigation may be necessary and inevitable to remedy the tragic situation in which these children and mothers find themselves”.

The centre will now focus on interviewing the mothers and fathers – if they can be traced – as well as any other person with a “significant relationship” with either of the girls. The children and mothers will undergo “full and thorough” clinical assessments.

As if raising one child wasn’t hard enough…

 [source: Timeslive]