A baby has finally been returned to his distraught parents after being swapped at birth shortly after being born in El Salvador four months ago.
Texas couple Richard Cushworth and Mercedes Casanellas traveled to a private hospital in San Salvador for the birth of their son. However, the parents suspected the baby that doctors placed in their arms was not their own.
The parents had a DNA test performed on the baby and discovered in fact, he was not their son. Prosecutors in El Salvador opened an investigation last week to locate the missing child.
The obstetrician-gynecologist who delivered Casanellas’ baby was placed under investigation on suspicion of theft, but it’s unknown at this time if he is suspected of any deeper plot to sell the child.
Casanellas’, 39, was seen chasing the doctor outside a court hearing, shouting in Spanish: “Where is my son, doctor? Where is my son?”
The parents feared their baby might have been sold to traffickers because of his fairer skin.
Earlier this week, Casanellas, who is from El Salvador, and Cushworth, originally from England, desperately pleaded for their baby to be returned, saying it was “a life-long injury that’s very, very deep, and it’s horrible.”
The couple’s lawyer, Francisco Meneses, told reporters, “We don’t have anything against the people who were involved during the [baby’s] birth, but we want all these people to put their hands on their hearts because… it’s very important for them to tell us what happened.”
During the investigation, officials required DNA testing of four other infants born in the same hospital in San Salvador. Shockingly, one of the four tested positive for Casanellas’ family.
The return of the children to their respective parents was confirmed to reporters by Luis Martinez, chief prosecutor, who called the episode a “painful drama.”
