Baby swap mum: “I wouldn’t wish that agony on any parent”

Richard Cushworth and Mercedes Casanellas made headlines last week after it was alleged their three-month-old baby had been swapped at birth and sold to traffickers by the doctor.

YULIA

by Emily Cope |
Published on

British-born Richard, who lives in Texas, and his wife Mercedes made a public plea for their baby's return after DNA tests showed the child they’d cared for since birth was not theirs.

Mercedes revealed that after she'd given birth on 21 May after seeing her newborn son briefly, he was whisked away

When they next saw him Mercedes was convinced she’d been handed the wrong baby because his facial features were different and his skin was darker, but doctors assured her she was wrong.

Richard and Mercedes raised Jacob as their own child

She said: "I didn't want to think about the idea of a switch because I’m very connected to my baby, but those doubts were always on my mind, and finally I made the decision to do a DNA test."

CALLIE JOHNSON - WHO WAS SWITCHED AT BIRTH - HAS SPOKEN FOR THE FIRST TIME ABOUT HER INCREDIBLE JOURNEY

The results, which were revealed last week, showed that Mercedes and Richard were not Jacob’s biological parents.

Before investigators informed the Cushworths they’d found their son, Mercedes said she hoped to keep the baby they'd started raising.

She said: "If they can't find his mother, he already has parents, us."

The pair were thrilled to be reunited with their biological child

However, within 24 hours investigators found their biological son, after testing the DNA of four boys born on the same day.

Later that day, the parents exchanged babies and Mercedes was pictured looking traumatised at having to hand over the baby she’d breast-fed for three months.

But after being reunited with their son, the couple said they were “thrilled”.

Despite initial allegations of child trafficking, Dr Alejandro Guidos, has been cleared and the tragedy appears to have been a genunine “mix-up”.

The couple later wrote on Facebook: ‘There are no words to express what our heart feels to have our baby at home!’

One woman who understands their agony is Yulia Bekyaeva. Her daughter Irina was 12 when they discovered she'd been swapped at birth.

Yulia - who lives in Russia - says: “My heart goes out to these poor families. I know how they feel and I wouldn’t wish the agony on anyone.

"My daughter was 12 when I discovered the truth, so it was impossible to swap them back, but recently Anna made the decision to live with me too.

"While it doesn’t matter how old the babies are because the parents have already given them their unconditional love, these families are still lucky to find out sooner rather than later.

"If I’d found out my daughter was swapped when she was still a baby I’d have preferred to have swapped back, but by the time we found out, we were too connected to the daughter we’d raised.

"But I’m grateful to have a relationship with my biological daughter and the daughter I raised from birth.”

To read more of Yulia's story, get this week's copy of Closer magazine

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