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Apr 4, 2012

maternity ward mixes up baby boy and girl... and now BOTH parents claim the little boy is theirs


A maternity ward mix-up of a baby boy and girl in India has led to a furious row between the parents - with both sets claiming the boy is theirs. 
The babies were born on the same day, in the same maternity ward, at Umaid Hospital in the western India city of Jodhpur.
But midwives accidentally mixed-up the babies shortly after their birth - giving the boy and the girl to the wrong parents.

New mother Poonam Kanwar and her husband Chain Singh were wrongly given the baby boy born to Reshmi Devi and her husband Sagar Ram.
But the couple refused to give the boy up when hospital staff said there had been a mistake despite blood tests indicating that the baby girl was actually their child.
Chain Singh told the Times of India the dispute was not because he did not want a daughter. He said: 'It is not a matter of her being a girl. I just want to confirm that she is my daughter.'

But Reshmi Devi and Sagar Ram, believed to be the boy's biological child, have taken the baby boy home while the couples await the results of DNA tests.
The Indian newspaper reported that the baby girl has been left in the care of staff at the hospital since her birth on March 25.
Officials say Ms Kanwar has offered to breastfeed the girl, but will not be allowed to do so unless she gives an undertaking to accept the baby is hers.
There is widespread discrimination against female babies in India despite campaigns and calls by leaders to stop the practice.

 Girls are seen as burdens requiring huge dowries, whereas sons are considered breadwinners, who will be able to look after their parents in old age.
Selective abortion of female foetuses is rampant in the South Asian country despite the introduction of laws against foetal sex determination 15 years ago. Cases of female infanticide are also reported every year.
According to the 2011 census, there are just 914 girls for every 1,000 boys aged between 0 and 6 years across India, compared with the natural discrepancy at birth of 950 girls for every 1,000 boys.

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