Girls returned to correct parents 4 years after Vietnam hospital staff mistake

Thanh Hoa Obstetrics Hospital where two baby girls were given to wrong parents four years ago. Photo: Le Hoang/VnExpress

Two couples in Da Nang city and Thanh Hoa Province who thought they have been living happily with their own infant daughters for the last four years discovered recently that their babies had been switched in the hospital after delivery.

They both had daughters through a C-section at Thanh Hoa Obstetrics Hospital on October 6, 2012, and one couple moved to Da Nang.

The Da Nang couple said they sought a DNA test as they realized that the more their daughter grew up the less she looked like either of them.

The test results confirmed their suspicion and so they traveled back to the Thanh Hoa hospital early this month.

They looked up all baby girls born the same day and, with the hospital’s documents and DNA samples, found their real daughter was living with the Thanh Hoa couple.

Both families agreed to swap their daughters.

They said the children have not shown any adverse psychological signs in the few days since the switch.

A hospital spokesperson admitted to news website VnExpress that medical staff had mistakenly changed the babies four years ago.

The hospital is negotiating with the families over compensation.

The province health department has begun an investigation to identify the persons responsible.