The Cordero Family
The Cordero Family are lifelong residents of Guatemala City. In 2012, their family of three was growing and they were overjoyed at the prospect of their son having a brother. While at the hospital during the birth, Mr. Cordero remembers being the first person to hold his son before the nurses took him away for cleaning.
When they finally brought their newborn son home, neither parent was anticipating their bundle of joy would grow, each day looking more different from the rest of the family. Mr. Cordero was not convinced that something was wrong at first. He thought oftentimes children were born without a resemblance to immediate family members…other relatives would remark how this child looked like so-and-so’s great uncle on the mother’s side, etc. For a whole year, the Cordero family raised and loved the child they brought home from the hospital.
Until one day, Mr. Cordero learned about genetic testing through DNA matching at the University where he worked. He was eager to see if this could relieve his doubts. Mrs. Cordero felt a DNA test was unnecessary- their son was their son, and there was no other possible answer. Finally, Mr. Cordero was able to convince his wife; not for him to take a paternity test, but for her to take a maternity test. They were utterly shocked when they received the results.
Zero percent maternity.
Mrs. Cordero was not only devastated, she felt scared and alone. Who was the boy she had been raising and where was her son? The Cordero Family began looking for answers and brought their case to the hospital and authorities. The investigation involved DNA testing all of the males who were born in the same hospital, throughout the same couple of weeks. More than 90 tests later, Cordero’s biological son was found, living with a single mother on the opposite side of the city. In the end, the hospital was proven at fault. The newborns were born at similar times, in neighboring rooms. When taken for their postnatal bath, their ID bracelets fell off, and a careless mistake from a nurse who re-banded the infants with the wrong bracelets changed two families forever.
It was extremely hard for both the Cordero family, and the family who was raising their son to accept the truth and the complicated emotions that came with it. Neither family wanted to “give up” the son they had already bonded with, but at the same time they also both wanted to meet their biological children. The switch back is a work in progress but both families continue to get together. The siblings are the ones who have been most affected, but the Cordero family says the DNA test they took was the only way they would have ever known the truth, and they are positive that their story will help another searching family.
Mistakes such as this one happen everywhere in the world and can happen to any family. The Cordero’s are a testament to the power of genetic technologies empowering individuals to take on institutions who otherwise may not take their cases as seriously.