DNA test establishes baby's parentage

JAKARTA (JP): The DNA test done on a baby girl has helped establish the identity of her parents as the ones who said their baby was a boy.

Chief of East Jakarta police precinct Lt. Col. Gories Mere said yesterday that the tests confirmed that the baby's mother is Nustita Siahaan.

"We don't know any other way to prove (who the parents are) if Mrs. Nustita still refuses to recognize the baby," he said.

Nustita, who gave birth to a baby on Aug. 20 at the city-owned Pasar Rebo hospital, reported to the police on Aug. 23 that her baby boy had been deliberately exchanged for a girl by hospital staff.

The hospital management had admitted the midwife Jn's error in wrongly reporting the sex of the newborn to the family, based on the wrong label prepared by a nursery employee. Neither of them had looked at the baby's organs themselves. The mistake was a result of miscommunication between the employee, Ti, and another employee when preparing the labels.

Earlier, the police said the footprints recorded on the newborn's report also matched that of the baby girl's.

"Footprints are nearly 100 percent foolproof," Gories said. "There is a small possibility that two persons can have the same prints," he said.

Tests of blood samples also prove that the baby girl's parents are Nustita and her husband, Mathius Siahaan, Gories said.

The girl's blood group is A, Mathius' is AB and Nustita's is O, he said.

Meanwhile a hospital employee said yesterday that the hospital has not been informed of the DNA test results. The baby is still under hospital care, she said. (bsr/anr)