Identification Techniques for Preventing Infant Mix-Ups
A Case of Infant-Mother Mix-Up
Despite these preventive measures, 64 mother-baby mix-ups occur every day.
Paula Johnson of Ruckersville, Virginia, found herself in one of these cases.
Johnson learned through a paternity suit that her daughter, Callie, was not the baby that she had given birth to. According to hospital records, Callie was born with the rare blood type O-negative and now has A-positive. Johnson found out later that another child, Rebecca, was born at the same hospital with a blood type of A-positive and now has O-negative blood. This was not conclusive enough for the hospital to prove there was a mix-up, so the hospital paid for a maternity DNA test to be carried out at a laboratory, and Johnson found out that Rebecca, not Callie, was her biological child. Despite this, Johnson does not want to switch the girls back to their biological parents.
"It's the only thing they've ever known," she told a CNN reporter. "I don't see me changing my mind about taking her away from these people."
If a mix-up is suspected, mothers can request a maternity DNA test to prove whether or not the child is hers. Like a paternity DNA test, a maternity test compares a child's DNA pattern with that of the assumed mother to determine how likely it is that the child has inherited the DNA from the assumed mother. The father's participation in the maternity test helps to exclude half of the child's DNA, leaving the rest for comparison with the assumed mother, but his participation is not necessary.
A chain of custody maternity DNA test is the most reliable form of identification testing in these situations because it is legally defensible. The courts prefer this process because an impartial third party collects the samples at a clinic or a laboratory, participants must provide government-issued identification, and all parties must be photographed and fingerprinted at the collection site.
More Infant Mix-Up Stories
Pg. 1 >> Newborn Identification
Pg. 2 >> Hospital Security Measures to Prevent Baby Swaps
Pg. 3 >> A Case of Infant-Mother Mix-Up
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