Woman wins SR1.7m in baby swap case

A Saudi woman won SR1.7 million ($460,000) in damages to be paid by the Ministry of Health for a mistake involving a baby swap that led the woman to live with the wrong family for nearly 35 years, a local daily reported on Monday.

The 35-year-old Uhoud from the western Red Sea port of Jeddah filed for damages at a civil court against the Ministry of Health blaming it for the mistake that also led another girl to live with the wrong family, Sharq said.

Uhoud had lived with a rich family for nearly 35 years until a woman made a remark during a party that brought together the two families about the stark resemblance between Uhoud and the girls of the poor family.

“The remark caused furor and controversy and it never died away. The two families then decided that their daughters should have a DNA test, which revealed the shocking reality—the rich girl is the real daughter of the poor family and the poor girl is the actual daughter of the rich family.”

Sharq said Uhoud demanded the compensation for the psychological damage resulting from her living with the wrong family for 35 years, her deprivation of her real family and of her real father who had died during that period, and the resulting change of her lifestyle since she moved to live with her real poor family.

Uhoud also told court that she had not been able to get married because of her dark colour, which was quite different from the other members of that family.

“The civil court in Jeddah ordered the Ministry of Health to pay SR1.7 million in damages to Uhoud because of this serious mistake 35 years ago….the judge also asked the Ministry to oversee the rehabilitation of Uhoud during the process of moving in with her real family so she can adapt to the new situation.”

Sharq did not say whether the other girl, who had lived with Uhoud’s real family, would take similar legal measures against the Ministry of Health. But it noted that this girl who had lived as poor for 35 years has now moved to live with her real wealthy family in the same city.

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