DNA test restores infants to right parents

The confusion following the mix-up of two babies at a government hospital here was finally settled on Wednesday, following a DNA test.

The confusion following the mix-up of two babies at a government hospital here was finally settled on Wednesday, following a DNA test.

The children had been kept under the care of the staff at the Rajah Sir Ramaswamy Mudaliar (RSRM) Hospital after a dispute broke out between the parents, Farheed Begum (24), wife of A S Ansari of Old Washermanpet, and Kamakshi (23), wife of Elangovan of Thiruvotriyur, for the custody of the male child. The hospital staff in the emergency operation theatre of the labour ward had mixed up the tags put on the babies after the Caesarean sections. While all records showed that Farheed had given birth to a boy, Kamakshi and her relatives refused to give him back stating that the boy was delivered by her.

This put the hospital staff in a fix as both parents claimed the boy as theirs. Though they conducted a blood test to determine the parentage, it failed to serve the purpose as both had B +ve group. However, the issue was solved conclusively on Wednesday when the DNA results proved that the hospital records were indeed correct and the boy child was Farheed’s. Distributing sweets at the hospital, Ansari said his family was jubilant after the ‘victory of justice’. “We were running from pillar to post since the day of the delivery to prove that he was indeed our son. It wouldn’t have mattered if we got the girl child after the DNA test; we were fighting for justice,” he said.

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The other family refused to interact with reporters. When contacted, the girl’s father Elangovan said his family merely wanted to prove beyond doubt that the child was indeed theirs.

Meanwhile, the issue has prompted hospital authorities to tighten procedures to avoid such incidents in future. Senior health staff, including Dr Mythili Bhaskar, Dean at the Government Stanley Medical College and in charge of the hospital, have conducted an inquiry and submitted a report to the Government.