American couple return to El salvador to swap babies.

[Charis1]

The boys are 4 months old, one couple were sure they had the wrong son, because his skin was too dark. The other couple didn't know anything was wrong until they were called for a DNA test, then were told they had taken the wrong baby home from hospital.

Both couples wanted their own child back

but my question is until what age would this be the case? This sort of strong, maternal love for your own child is automatic and impersonal, but at some stage you develop a personal love for the child you have.

I'm not phrasing this very well! Until what stage would you want to swap if you were told you had the wrong one?

I don't know myself, I can't imagine after 6 months, certainly, but before that, are they really so interchangeable????

Of course they're not easily interchangeable. But what else are they meant to do?

I'm not sure it's about not wanting to swap your baby back, but wanting your own biological child iyswim.

Either way there's a IMO a lot more to this story which isn't/can't be reported....

tbh, if someone came knocking at the door now, informing me that one of my teenagers had got muddled up at birth and I'd taken the wrong one, I wouldn't even care. It would just not matter to me now. It wouldn't have mattered for a very long time, actually, like I said , quite possibly from about 6 months,

I've never understood men who cut al ties with children they have raised when a paternity test says they aren't the biological father. Surely it doesn't matter, if you have raised them?? ( except to Jeremy Kyle, but he wouldn't have a livelihood if he admitted it was irrelevant....)

I think it's different for them as they have always suspected they have the wrong child and I guess that would make it easier to give back the child you've had for 4 months.
If someone told me DS (10 months) has been swapped I wouldn't give him up but I would want my biological child as well.
Must have been horrific for them

I bet it happens more often than is reported or even realised at all

yes, I've come across elderly twins, in a care setting who happened to have blood tests..... and the results showed they were not related

tbh, if someone came knocking at the door now, informing me that one of my teenagers had got muddled up at birth and I'd taken the wrong one, I wouldn't even care.

The way my teenage has been recently, I'd jump for joy and say take him straight away.

Seriously, I can't even imagine swapping a four month old. It must be heart braking for all involved.

I'm watching an American series at the mo called switched at birth. They find out when they are 14ish. Im on series 3 - its quite interesting.

Breaking

The bit I don't understand is why did the doctor swap the babies... They seem to think it was intentional on the doctors part but I can't work out why they would do that.

I think it was that his efforts to be caring were misconstrued as suspicious. Also, he knew that her husband was out of the country at the time he scheduled the C section. To perform a C section at 35 weeks, there must have been a perfectly valid medical explanation though.

I do think they should have assumed it was a mix-up before leaping to this conclusion. However, the hospital apparently refused to consider (or presumably investigate) the possibility of a mix-up when this was suggested. So perhaps they were forced to it.

At least it got sorted out at an early stage. Still heartbreaking though. If I was the other couple, I'd be slightly put out at the suggestion that they wanted to keep the other baby too - surely one would first assume that the other couple was in similar circumstances? Perhaps they are prone to this kind of thinking.

I have a ten week old. I would hate to part with him - but would also accept that it was for the best in these circumstances. It would grow harder every day though. (And my baby is not genetically related to me BTW).