A UK couple is finally getting their baby back after giving birth in El Salvador and accusing the doctor of making the swap. Their story is a warning to prospective parents traveling away from home.
In earlier reports, Richard Cushworth and his wife Mercedes Casanella are Christian missionaries living in the U.S. who took a vacation El Salvador when Casanella gave birth to the child. The couple believed their newborn baby had been switched at birth and had been sold to traffickers.
Casanella said she recognized something was not right when she noticed the baby’s skin color. She said the baby had a darker tone than the child she gave at birth. When the couple came back to Dallas, Texas, they immediately got a DNA test and found the baby they were given was indeed not their own.
They formally accused Dr. Alejandro Guidos for swapping babies, and he was eventually arrested. Guidos said he is innocent of the charges.
Casanella said Guidos had told her the child she was kidding would be dark-colored although the baby’s father was white.
She said those words seemed a little odd to her, considering he kept saying it after ultrasounds and repeating it time and again.
According to Casanella, the anesthesiologist gave her something to sleep after giving birth. And, when she woke up, the new mother said the baby looked nothing like the child she gave birth and held.
The couple was eventually reunited with their son.
They hired attorney Francisco Meneses, who said the couple didn’t hold any ill will against those involved in the birth – from the doctor doing the surgery, the anesthesiologist, pediatrician and the nurses in the delivery room. They just want to know what happened after the birth and before Casanella woke up again.