The Exchanged Baby In Bogor Is Still Adjusting Care With Biological Parents

Two mothers whose babies were swapped embraced after mediation at the Bogor Police Headquarters in Cibinong, Friday (25/8/2023). (ANTARA/M Fikri Setiawan)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (KemenPPPA) said that two babies who were swapped at a hospital in Bogor Regency were still undergoing the process of adjusting parenting with biological parents.

"It has entered the third week of phase, namely the stages of adjusting child care with their biological parents, until the fourth week," said Deputy for Child Special Protection at the Ministry of PPPA Nahar when contacted, Thursday, September 14, as quoted by Antara.

"In time, I was still fussy looking for a foster mother, but it continued to decrease, and it started to get close (with biological parents)," he said.

Nahar said the two interchanged babies underwent a transitional period of care.

In the first week, he said, social workers and psychologists from the Bogor Regency Government (Pemkab) visited the homes of the two families whose babies were swapped to conduct an assessment.

The process, he continued, was followed by a routine meeting between the two families at the Bogor Resort Police Office in the second week.

In the third week, he continued, the two exchange-exchanged babies underwent a phase of adjusting care with biological parents.

"The process of adjusting (the child is given to his parents) through 1x24 hours first, 2x24 hours, and 3x24 hours," said Nahar.

He said that the process would be continued with a re-assessment and discussion of further handling of the two babies.

"We will see how it is attached to the original family. If it is appropriate to be handed over, then later on September 29, 2023, children will be handed over," said Nahar.

The case of a baby that was swapped in Bogor surfaced on August 10, 2023, when the parents of a baby born with a fault operation at Sentosa Hospital on July 18, 2022 reported to the Bogor Police Women and Children Service Unit.

After conducting DNA tests and knowing that the child who had been being treated was not a biological child, they tried to find their biological child.

The police followed up on reports from families whose babies were swapped by conducting investigations, including asking for information from hospital managers and employees.

The results of a police cross-examination showed that the baby from the family was swapped with another patient who gave birth at Sentosa Hospital.

The police then facilitated mediation for the parents of the two interchanged babies.

The parents of the exchange-exchanged babies agree on a plan to care during the transition period so that they can build ties with their biological children before returning the child to their respective biological parents.