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Two Russian Mums have had to swap their 2 year old sons, who were mixed up at birth

28 replies

FrazzledFairyFay · 31/03/2009 18:43

here. This made me really as my DS is neaarly 2 and I can't imagine having to sap him for another child I didn't know , even if he was my biological son. What an awful situation

OP posts:
HumphreyCobbler · 31/03/2009 18:50

SadSad

MIAeatingeggs · 31/03/2009 18:50

I just don't know how you could cope with something like that. You would feel like you had lost twice, once for your baby you have had to hand over and once for the years you had lost not knowing your biological child.

Wouldn't be able to hand over my child after 2 years though, biological or not.

shootfromthehip · 31/03/2009 18:52

Good God, what a terrible story

SparklyGothKat · 31/03/2009 18:56

its a sad story

TheCrackFox · 31/03/2009 18:57

That's awful. I know it is probably impossible to predict what you would do in this sort of situation but I genuinely think i would rather keep the 2 year old that I had loved and cared for. Can't imagine having to swap one of my boys at 2. I felt completely bonded with them.

expatinscotland · 31/03/2009 19:04

The right decision, IMO.

The 2-year-olds won't remember.

expatinscotland · 31/03/2009 19:05

It's like they were sending the child into a lion's den or that.

FAQinglovely · 31/03/2009 19:11

no they perhaps won't remember (my earliest memories are from when I was 2yrs old - but there will be questions asked later that the parents won't be able to answer

Is there proper support being given to the parents and children involved? I doubt it sadly.

expatinscotland · 31/03/2009 19:13

Support? In Russia? Probably not.

expatinscotland · 31/03/2009 19:13

Support? In Russia? Probably not.

MollyRogerslikeanEasterabbit · 31/03/2009 19:15

It might have been better never to have found this out. How devastating for all concerned...

pinkmagic1 · 31/03/2009 19:18

My DD is 2 and I know I could never swap her even if I found there had been a mix up, it would break my heart.

5intheEgg · 31/03/2009 21:20

Oh how sad . I would never be able to do anything ike that. I wonder if they asked both sets of parents if they wanted to do it first?

2shoes · 31/03/2009 21:47

what a horrid situation

beanieb · 31/03/2009 21:57

This has happened before, and I think not discovered in some cases until the children were much older

I am sure there was an american mix-up where one of the kids became terminally ill and the switch was only discovered because of blood tests which didn't make add up as the ill child had the 'wrong' blood type.

At least it's been discovered early.

EvaLongoria · 31/03/2009 22:55

Beginning of the month Sky had a program on called Swapped. It was a show about two babies in South Africa who were swapped at birth in the maternity hospital and the mothers found out when they were two (because one of the fathers questioned his paternity)

Can you even imagine what you would do??

So, they did nothing, met up a few times so the mothers could see and get to know their biological children and then a judge ruled that at 13, the boys could decide for themselves...so terrible.

Plus, one family was much better off than the other and so had access to a much better education.
It was very sad to watch

BitOfFunnyBunny · 31/03/2009 23:05

On a slightly lighter note- my mum got given the wrong baby when my brother was born due to being put in another woman's bed after her caesarian...until the nurses' shift changed back nobody realized! My mum had an awful couple of hours feeling that she just couldn't bond with this baby, and said that even when his mother got him back she called him "Froggy"

Luckily for the hospital, the seventies were less litigious times...

Nontoxic · 31/03/2009 23:12

There was a other case like this a couple of years ago, girls of about 15 mo, again in Russia.
Afair, the families were making a gradual 'changeover'. Don't remember what the outcome was - but it's a stomach-churning thing in any event.

changer22 · 31/03/2009 23:24

My mother was given the wrong baby in hospital after she'd had my brother (1961).

She was given the baby to feed and she said 'This isn't my baby' to which she was told it was. 'But my baby's bald (the baby in her arms had hair) and anyway this is a girl!'

She had been rushed in after a homebirth and was pretty ill (the window cleaner told her later he thought she was 'a goner' when she was carried out to the ambulance) but thank goodness she knew what she'd had!

I could have ended up with 2 sisters instead of DSis and DB.

I have always insisted DH stays with the baby...

duchesse · 31/03/2009 23:29

My friend's friend was nearly a changeling, saved only by her eagle-eyed mum who noticed that the "Baby < extremely common but correct surname >" she'd been handed was not the same sex as the one shed give birth a few hours earlier... And the midwives had the cheek to assure she was wrong before she pointed out the slight surplus willy issue.

Lancelottie · 01/04/2009 12:39

When I had DD (not that many years back) a couple of very flustered midwives came to ask if if was sure she was my baby, as two of the baby girls in the ward were missing tags and one of the mothers thought she had the wrong one.

Luckily my girl was labelled, so no lingering doubts here. Twitch, twitch...

peanutbutterkid · 01/04/2009 13:09

I know a story like this about a boy in California, I think he was about 5yo. The thing is the authorities didn't insist on taking the boy off the wrong parents, but one set of parents completely rejected the child as soon as they were told, and made CPS come get him. Like they were just waiting for an excuse to blame all his naughty behaviour on from the previous 5 years, and get him out of their lives.

F*ckers.

BeatrixRotter · 01/04/2009 13:22

I think it's such a sad story. I was so lucky, had DD in a birth centre and she was never away from me or DP.

fluffyanimal · 01/04/2009 13:28

Reading the article makes me wonder, as it was the Russian mum who pursued the exchange, how much the war situation and racial/religious prejudice affected the decision.

Nontoxic · 01/04/2009 20:35

Yes, that occured to me. I'm sure the other recent case was at least trying to be amicable, though heartbreaking.