Hospital nightmare:
Maternal instinct told Mercy Cushworth that something wasn’t right about her baby. Here, she tells Closer about her horror at discovering the son she adored wasn’t hers…
“My baby boy was swapped at birth”
❛ I WAS TOLD THE AWFUL TRUTH... THERE WAS ZERO CHANCE I COULD BE JACOB’S MUM ❜
For three months, Mercy Cushworth bathed, soothed and even breastfed a child that wasn’t her own. Despite being convinced that she’d been given the wrong baby after giving birth, the mum of two was reassured by doctors that she was simply delirious after a traumatic delivery.
But a secret DNA test revealed the shocking truth that her instinct had been right all along – Mercy’s child had been swapped at birth.
HEARTBREAKING
Mercy’s story has echoes of hit BBC drama, The Secrets She Keeps, which tells the story of Abbie Humphries, who was kidnapped from hospital at just four hours old.
Mercy, 36, who was eventually reunited with her son, Moses, now five, when he was three months old, says, “Learning the truth was heartbreaking. Not only was the baby I had fallen in love with not mine, but my real son was out there somewhere. Thankfully, Moses has been returned to us, and he’s happy and thriving. I still think of Jacob, the child I was given, all the time. I hope he and his family are happy now.”
At the time, Mercy was living in her native El Salvador with her British husband, Richard, and her son from a previous marriage, now 18.
In May 2015, during a routine scan while seven months pregnant, Mercy was told her baby needed to be delivered immediately.
She explains, “Richard was away working in the USA, so I called my mum who rushed to my side. It all happened so quickly – I’m not even sure what was wrong with the baby. But before I knew it, I was in theatre having a C-section.”
Mercy and Richard had already decided to name their son Jacob. Mercy says, “I caught a glimpse of my baby before he was whisked away to the premature baby unit. It was only for a couple of seconds, but he looked exactly like his dad.”
Exhausted and heavily medicated, Mercy fell asleep. The next thing she remembers is waking up on the maternity ward the following morning.
She says, “When I woke up and the midwife placed Jacob in my arms, I looked at him and my heart missed a beat – I turned to my mum and told her this baby wasn’t mine. Both the midwife and my mum looked at me like I was crazy. They reassured me that I’d given birth in a prestigious hospital, with the best medical staff in the country – there was no way they’d make a mistake like that.
“Everyone was so certain that I started to believe them. I had only caught a quick glance of my baby when he was first born after all, and even then I was exhausted and sedated.”
Four days later, Mercy was discharged and went home, where Richard, who had returned from the USA, met Jacob for the first time.
Mercy says, “I tried to push my doubts to the back of my mind. But while Jacob thrived – and I loved him deeply – I wondered if we were truly bonded. He struggled to breastfeed, and when he cried, I couldn’t soothe him. It was so different to the experience I’d had with my older son, who was happiest when I was close by.
“And I expected to see a family resemblance, especially as I’d been so struck by how much he looked like Richard when he was first born. But he looked nothing like us.”
PANIC
When Jacob was two months old, Mercy and Richard – who both work as missionaries – decided to relocate to America.
Mercy says, “As we packed up our house, I started to panic. I couldn’t shake off the bad feeling that Jacob wasn’t ours. And what if I had been given the wrong baby, and I was leaving my real son behind?”
In July 2015, Richard flew
out to their new home in Texas. Mercy and Jacob were due to follow a week later.
She says, “It was now or never. So, without telling anyone, I went back to the hospital and demanded a DNA test.”
The results took a month to come through and, during that time, Mercy and Jacob had followed Richard to Texas.
She says, “I had a friend collect the results for me and I was at home when she called to tell me the awful truth – there was zero chance I could be Jacob’s mum. I collapsed on the floor, shaking as I sobbed – which is where Richard found me. Telling him the truth was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do – our baby boy had been swapped at birth.
“After our initial shock subsided, we had so many questions. Where was our biological son? Was he alive? And how could we ever give up Jacob?”
Mercy and Richard flew back to El Salvador, where they sought the help of the British Ambassador, Bernhard Garside, who ensured authorities looked into their case.
DNA SAMPLES
Every mother and child who gave birth at the hospital on the same day as Mercy had to give DNA samples. And horrifyingly, during the course of the investigation, a doctor at the hospital was accused of masterminding a plot to steal the baby to sell it as part of a child trafficking ring – though the charges have since been dropped.
Three weeks later, Mercy was given the news she’d been waiting for – they’d found her son. She explains, “The relief was overwhelming, but at the same time, I knew it meant handing Jacob back to his real parents.
“The authorities wanted us to swap the babies back immediately. So, Richard and I gave Jacob one last bath, and I packed a bag with some clothes and his favourite toys. A lawyer was waiting for us at the courthouse, where we saw another family, also holding a baby boy.
“I hugged Jacob one last time, before handing him over to his real mum. I can only assume she was in as much pain as me – handing over a child she’d believed was hers.
“I was devastated, but then my son – who had been named Moses – was placed into my arms. He looked up at me and opened his eyes – which looked just like his dad’s – and I felt that rush of love I’d been waiting for. There was no doubt that this was my son.”
GRIEF AND PAIN
Mercy and Richard were forced to stay in El Salvador for a further eight months, while they waited for Moses’ new birth certificate.
She says, “The joy we felt in having our son back was matched by the pain and grief we felt about losing Jacob.
“And when we first got back home to Texas, it was tough. Moses had speech and language delay – which doctors told me was a result of the trauma he’d been through. He was so young, but moving between families – and countries – can still have a subconscious impact on a child.
Now, Moses is five years old and has overcome his initial hurdles. Mercy says, “He’s an energetic, curious little boy. We never considered changing his name, as that would be like pretending Jacob never existed.
“I’m not in contact with Jacob’s family – I think it’s better that way – but I still think about him all the time. And I took no legal action against the hospital in El Salvador. I’m still not sure how it all happened, and after so much heartbreak, I just wanted to put it all behind me.
“When I look back at what happened to my family, it doesn’t seem real. But every time I put Moses to bed,
I hug him extra close. I feel so lucky because I could have lost him forever.”