The parents of two Cape Town boys are grappling with the emotional and legal fallout after discovering that their sons – now aged 14 – were swapped at birth at a city hospital.

Western Cape authorities last week confirmed that an inquiry was launched last year.

The Sunday Times has decided not to name the parties involved to protect the children.

The swap was discovered after the father of one of the boys – embroiled in a maintenance dispute with the mother – questioned the boy’s paternity because there was little physical resemblance between them.

The man insisted on a DNA test, which proved he was not the father.

The woman then also had a DNA test, which showed she was not the mother.

The woman said she was told in June that her biological son was being raised in the same neighbourhood.

‘I have bonded with (this child, but) I want to see my blood,’ she said.

Siraaj Khan, a medical law expert and lecturer at Wits University, said only two child-swapping cases had been formally recorded in SA. He said a mother would have to go to court if she wanted to obtain parental rights over her biological child.

‘There are multiple legal issues that would be at play, but essentially the court would consider the best interest of the child as provided for in terms of … the Constitution, together with … the Children’s Act,’ he said.

‘If it found that the hospital staff were negligent … the parents would be entitled to compensation. We have case law which has provided a precedent for this.’

First Sunday Times report