Guest post from Elizabeth at www.rockabyeparents.com
When my son was born the hospital took all precautions to make sure that there was no question about the fact that he and I went together. Not only did his ID bracelet state that he was my son, but we were given electronic bracelets that would play music when they came in contact. If there had been a mix-up and the wrong child had given to me then the bracelets would have made a loud blaring sound. As soon as he was born the bracelets were put on us so there wouldn’t be a chance of a mix-up. Sadly these kinds of precautions are not the norm in all parts of the world. If they were then a poor little baby girl in India likely wouldn’t be lying in a hospital waiting for her mother to come claim her.
On March 25, at close to the same time, two mothers gave birth. Each couple was told that they had a baby boy, but one of them actually had a baby girl. The problem is that the hospital and the parents don’t know for sure which couple had the boy and which had the girl. The hospital does believe that they gave the baby boy to the wrong couple, but they are waiting for DNA testing to confirm this fact.
The big problem is that in India baby boys are prized, and for the most part baby girls are not wanted. It’s such a sad thought, but that’s how things are over there. Some areas of India are not even allowing couples to find out the gender of their baby ahead of time because too many baby girls were being aborted and the gender ratio in some areas are terribly lopsided. Due to this type of thought process both of the couples in question want to claim the baby boy and neither one wants to claim the baby girl. The baby girl for now has been abandoned at the hospital with no parents to love and care for her.
According to the article the mother that had been given the boy, but is thought to be the mother of the girl, has offered to care for the little girl as well, but the hospital won’t let her. The article said that this is what the family has told reporters. That just seems a bit odd to me that they won’t let her breastfeed the child when they are allowing her to care for the baby they don’t think is actually hers.
The situation is so sad. My heart breaks for that little girl who is already over a week old and has never known the loving touch of her mother. I would really like to know how the hospital staff could have gotten confused about the gender. I mean it is pretty obvious when the child is born whether it is a boy or a girl. My only hope is that when the DNA results do come in that the little girl’s parents will claim her.
You can read the article and watch the video clip here
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/baby-girl-lies-abandoned-couples-fight-for-boy/245081-3.html
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Comments (19)
That is heartrendingly sad.
How horrible. Whether a boy or a girl, all babies need tender loving care.
That is so terrible! I hope they get things sorted out.
It is terrible. I hope they get things sorted out and that the little girl goes to a home where she is cherished.
They did that at the hospital I used to work at. Fortunately, they found out and fixed it within an hour, but it was still a big deal.
I wish I could take her :( That is so awful.
I visited an orphanage here in Vietnam, and most of the children there were girls for the same reason. It's just awful.
...do the parents not know how to check that?...
It's not always obvious if the child is intersex.
How awfully sad to find yourself in a situation where you take a child home and love and cherish that child, only to find out years later it's not yours. But really, logically, it is, because you've loved the little one so much it hurts. How truly sad these things still happen occasionally. Both of mine had their fathers face stamped on them, as well as all his hair, so it was pretty obvious, but how tragic if one wouldn't be sure. Babies do change a lot in the first few months after birth.
Switched at birth. I've never heard of the music bracelets. That sounds like a really good idea.
I'll take her!
Now if only hospitals would stop taking babies from their mommas and let them stay in their mother's arms after birth where they belong.
How tragic. It's so sad that in many other countries baby boys are prized over baby girls. I truly hope that, like you, that when the DNA tests comes in the mother of the little girl who claim her & love her. It's critical that in the early stages of development a baby gets the tender loving care of its mother or father. Poor thing, my heart breaks for her..such a sad story. :[
That is indeed really sad, now I feel like when the day comes that I have a child I better be careful. Don't want to get the wrong baby -.- I want a baby girl, bring her to America she'll be treasured :)
I love baby girls-I'll take her! They are better than baby boys, more helpful, more obedient, smarter, wiser. hahahaha. (sarcasm)
This is sad, but it isn't always "pretty obvious" whether a baby is a boy or a girl. Sometimes babies are intersex and sometimes even when they aren't it isn't obvious.
I also am wondering where you had those cool electronic bracelets. They sound awesome.
Part of me was instinctively terrified of a mix up of some sort after the birth of my first, so when they told me they were going to take my daughter to the nursery to let me get settled in my room and bring her back in a bassinet, even though we both had bracelets with all of the info on (hers on her teeny, tiny ankle, mine on my wrist and a spare for Dad), I literally stared at her face for a full two minutes before I let the nurse take her from me, memorizing how she looked so I would recognize her when they brought her back to me. My son was delivered by midwife and we were going directly home from the hospital so he never left me, thank goodness. That's how it should be.
and stories like these are just more reasons why I refuse to have a baby in the hospital.
If ever the good Lord decides to bless me with a baby, I will have a home birth with a midwife and doula.
I joke around with my parents, that maybe I was switched at birth, since I am different from them in many ways. There is actually no chance of me having been switched at birth. I say that because i was born at the East L.A. Woman's Hospital. I was very literally the only white baby born at the hospital at the time.
That is some crazy and stupid ways of doing things. Like really? Smh... Such messed up, sad things in the world. That poor baby and I agree I hope they take her too,