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Mother wants biological child back after swap

One of the mothers whose baby was swapped at a hospital in Boksburg, Johannesburg, wants her biological child back.

"We have discussed the terms and conditions of a parenting plan that will be implemented which would allow the mothers contact with their biological children," the woman's lawyer Henk Strydom was quoted as saying.

"There will never be a situation where the mothers won't have any contact with their biological children."

A boy and girl were swapped at birth at the Tambo Memorial Hospital in Boksburg in the East Rand on August 2, 2010.

The baby swapping incident came to light when one of the fathers demanded a paternity test and it was discovered that neither parent was a biological parent.

Mother NN, as she has been referred to in court papers, lives with the four-year-old boy in Vosloorus, while mother NS lives with the girl in Tembisa.

The court appointed Ann Skelton, Head of the Centre for Child Law at the University of Pretoria, to investigate the incident and to make recommendations.

She recommended that it was best for the children to continue living with the parents who had raised them.

According to her report she compiled and handed to the court, mother NN who "originally desired to have care of her biological child, changed her mind due to her observation that her daughter is very bonded to NS and she does not want to cause distress to the child."

However, she had since changed her mind.

"At some stage, I would really love to have her back. Blood is thicker than water," the 33-year-old woman told the newspaper.

Skelton told Sapa in November that the mothers were being introduced to their children, and the children to each other.

"Any possibility of contact by the parents with their biological children will be managed by the team at the Child, Adolescent and Family Unit," she said at the time.

According to Skelton's report, the midwife who attended to both mothers at the time of the children's birth allegedly swapped the name tags and files of the children by accident.

The hospital was also alleged to have been busy on the day with few staff present.

 

 

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