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Many years ago I knew a woman who had relatives this happened to in Virginia. It lead to a huge custody battle. The surviving birth mother never got custody of her daughter. The other birth parents died in a bad car wreck before the switch was discovered and died never knowing that their daughter had been switched. The relatives were the couple who were killed. Crazy case.
No news outlets are reporting this other than The Daily Mail. If their claims are credible, why wasn’t a US based news outlet willing to report them? Why is the only one doing so the UK equivalent of the National Enquirer? The Daily Mail will print anything, no proof required. Color me skeptical on this story.
This sickly child, supposedly born to a drug addicted mother, with several abnormalities...why would the hospital allow this child to go home with a drug addicted mother? Seems like those would be conditions that would keep a newborn in the hospital for longer than 5 days...but yet THESE parents get to take this to take their baby home? It doesn't really make sense.
But they claim that after their baby was taken out the room by medical staff for tests, that she was swapped with another child
What "tests" did they need to run on the baby, and what was the result of those tests?
Additionally, the baby that appears darker in the photos wasn't born "healthy with no complications" as they state - there are several tubes - a gastric tube, and a nasal tube in the baby. That is not a well baby. Additionally, both babies, the one that appears lighter, and the one that appears darker, have the same therapeutic set up, except for the gastric tube that is present in the one they claim is theirs, and is absent in the one they claim is not.
Also, found this. Premature babies can be born very dark, but lighten up quickly:
Where was/is the obstetrician in all this? Did the mother HAVE prenatal care? Why no mention of that? Seems like, IF the mom had had prenatal care, the abnormalities of the sickly baby would've been known before the baby was born. Yet...they claim they have documentation showing 'their' baby was born healthy. If that's the case, that would surely bolster their claims.
But I'm wondering if this mother had prenatal care at all. They said they felt intimidated to speak up because they don't speak English. Well...they're in Los Angeles...surely you can throw a dime and hit someone who speaks Spanish. Why didn't they ask for an interpreter? And then THAT makes me think they were in the country illegally, and THAT'S why they were afraid to speak up.
But then I think, "Well, the baby was premature, maybe she had a regular doctor, but the doctor was on vacation or something." But still...SOMEONE on that hospital staff knew how to speak Spanish.
BUT if she did not have prenatal care, it would make sense that they'd take the baby for tests. Blood work to test for RH factor would be something to test for right away, I would think.
The baby that they deny is theirs died at 5 days old. They didn’t do a DNA test on the dead baby? Wonder if their baby is alive with a different family.
Thanks for posting the article. I'll be shocked if they did not switch the girls, looks like 2 different babies to me.
It's happened in the past and continues to happen unfortunately.
Hopefully they had the baby who died buried, she can be exhumed for DNA to do a test to prove they are not her parents.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801
Not the first time it's happened and probably not the last. Very interesting. There was the famous one in Florida, but I also read a good story about one that was discovered after the babies had grown old and died.
Through DNA and Ancestry.com, two daughters figured out that their fathers had been switched at birth in a NYC hospital in the early 20th century.
Lots of people still find out by doing DNA tests like ancestry that there was someone switched at birth in their family.
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Originally Posted by evening sun
They should do their own dna test. Maybe the baby was theirs, & they are saying this to cope with the grief. Even though this happened a few years ago, I don't know why they can't do an independent dna test on the dead baby.
Yes, they can have her exhumed to have the DNA test done. They may need permission from the county in order to do it. Some states are like that. It will cost them money, money that they apparently don't have. Exhuming remains costs a few thousand dollars, then add the DNA testing which is extracting DNA from bone or her teeth. For those that don't know, yes, she will have teeth in her mouth, we're born with all of our teeth, they just have to drop down when it's time.
They said the hospital denied giving them a DNA test.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ClaraC
Maybe the baby's been cremated?
That surely would complicate it, hopefully they did not. I wish they would have mentioned if they even were allowed to bury her or if the hospital took care of it. If the hospital, she was probably cremated
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Originally Posted by ClaraC
This is a compelling story, but pictures can be weird as far as coloring. The family says the belly button is a different shape, but it looks to me like it's the exact same belly button.
When they noticed the bracelets didn't match between the mom and baby, did they keep the bracelets as proof?
In the case of the other Guadalupe, was HER baby diagnosed with problems at birth, or were the health problems missed and neither newborn was assessed for those conditions that killed the baby at 5 days?
Did they complain to anyone that it wasn't their baby, until after the baby died? I would think if they had said in the hospital, at the time of the perceived switch, "this isn't our baby!", the nurse would say yes it is, here, the baby's bracelet and yours match. Was that not done?
Do they have any pics of the lighter colored baby's hair? The hair on the darker baby is distinctive - very thick and black. Are there no pics of the other baby's head?
The article says they did tell the hospital that they brought the wrong baby but the hospital denied it. The baby had to be rushed to another hospital which probably complicated everything.
They look like 2 totally different babies to me. Their daughter is much darker then the other baby. Their bellies are different shapes too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sassybluesy
And another thought...
This sickly child, supposedly born to a drug addicted mother, with several abnormalities...why would the hospital allow this child to go home with a drug addicted mother? Seems like those would be conditions that would keep a newborn in the hospital for longer than 5 days...but yet THESE parents get to take this to take their baby home? It doesn't really make sense.
It's very possible she did not take that baby home and that the baby ended up in foster care. Very sad but true.
There's no rhyme or reason to who's drug addicted baby they take or don't take. I know 2 women who were both on NJ state meth program. Both babies were born addicted, had to detox. Ones baby went home with her, the other was taken as soon as she was done detoxing.
I agree with your next post that the parents are probably here illegally, that's why they have not spoken up until now.
It seems like they do not have an attorney either, which is why they probably did what they could by going to news outlets to see who was interested so that maybe an article will bring an attorney to represent them.
The article is lacking a lot of information. Hopefully other news outlets will also start reporting on it with more facts. I also hope they're successful in finding an attorney.
If I remember the article correctly, the baby was taken for testing because they knew she was born addicted to drugs.
A Los Angeles mother says someone else is living with her daughter after LAC + USC Medical Center allegedly switched her newborn with a “sickly” infant who passed away.
Guadalupe Vélez and Mario Barrales insist they had a healthy baby girl on June 15, 2018. They named her Yarithzel; her grandfather took photos and recorded videos of the 5.9-pound newborn.
At some point, medical staff took the baby from her mother’s room for a medical check-up. Vélez said when the staff returned, they brought the wrong baby to her: an infant with a different skin tone, body shape, and belly button.
Vélez said the baby girl given to her was in dire medical condition. She passed away five days later from lung abnormality complications and other medical issues.
Barrales said he never saw an identification bracelet on his daughter.
“I asked the nurse why my daughter didn’t have the bracelet on her foot and she told me that if she was a brunette like me, then it was mine,” he said.
Vélez said she thinks that her baby may have been confused with a mother’s baby in a nearby maternity room, who has the same name as her.
Barrales, an immigrant from Mexico who doesn’t speak English, reportedly said he felt disadvantaged taking on Los Angeles County in a legal matter. He made it clear, however, that he isn’t looking for money, only justice.
Those pictures and the copy are pulled directly from the Daily Mail story. Who knows if they are legit or not? The Daily Mail is notorious for posting click bait articles. They don’t confirm the stories they run like an actual news outlet does. They’ve been sued more times than I can count for libel. Not taking this story as fact given their track record and the lack of any reputable news outlet reporting on it.
The story has so many holes in it. How the heck do they think they're going to get their child back? (If it really is their child out there in the world.)
DAD says baby didn't even HAVE a bracelet. Suuurrreee.
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