A South African centre on children's law has weighed in on the case of two toddlers reportedly switched at birth, and whether the children should go to their biological parents.
Due to a mix-up at a Johannesburg hospital, the boy and girl were given to the wrong parents, and one of the biological mothers wants her child back.
The accidental switch was not discovered until one of the mothers sought child support payments from her ex-husband, and he questioned the child's paternity. After tests revealed that they were not the parents of the child, the hospital's mistake was revealed.
Made aware of the problem, one of the mothers wanted her biological child back, while the other mother wanted to keep the child she had raised.
The case went before the North Gauteng High Court, which asked the University of Pretoria's Centre for Child Law to explore the repercussions for the children if they are removed from their parents. Centre Director Ann Skelton explained the organisation's decision.
"The recommendation is that the children should stay with the parents who have raised them and should also be permitted to have contact with their biological parents," she told Reuters.
"There was one mum who originally wanted to get her biological child back but she has softened her position and she accepts now that it's not really possible," she added.
The court has yet to rule in the case, but Skelton expressed hope that their Centre's recommendation would be followed.
A lawyer for one of the mothers said the issues in the case were on a "biblical scale," referring to the Judgment of Solomon.
The story, told in 1 Kings 3:16-28, describes two women who go before King Solomon, each claiming be the mother of the same infant. After the King decides to split the baby in two, only one of the women pleads for the child's life to be spared, and it is clear who the true mother is.
"And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king," the scripture reads, "for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment" (1 Kings 3:28, King James Version).
