Parents fear baby was swapped by hospital staff and sold to traffickers

A devastated couple have launched a public appeal for information after discovering their baby does not share their DNA. Briton Richard Cushworth and his wife Mercedes Casanellas, who live in the United States, had travelled to Mercedes' native El Salvador so she could give birth there. Now they believe their obstretrician-gyneocologist, Dr Alejandra Guidos, who has reportedly been arrested, masterminded a plot to sell their light-skinned baby to child traffickers. Ms Casanellas became suspicious when, during her pregnancy, Dr Guidos repeatedly advised her to expect a baby with dark skin, despite the fact that the child's father is white.

She said: "I always thought that was strange. How would he know that from the ultra-sound scans, and why would he keep saying it?" Speaking to a local TV station, Ms Casanellas recalled the birth: "I was very stressed at first because the baby took a while to start breathing, but then I held him and remember thinking that he looked like my husband." she said. "He was very white and had similar features. I remember seeing his genitals and thinking that they were white and pinkish. "But then the anesthetist came and told me that I was very nervous and that they were going to give me something to put me to sleep. After that I don't remember anything, until I woke up the next morning."

Despite their initial doubts, the new parents were assured the baby was their own and returned to Dallas Texas, where, after three months, they decided to order a DNA test. To their horror, the test revealed that neither parent was related to the child. San Salvador's private Ginecologio hospital have denied the kidnapping could have occurred, but the Attorney General has ordered a criminal investigation.

"I just want him to give me my baby back. I want to know that my child hasn't been trafficked or any other crime committed against him. I need my baby, I'm just asking for my baby." Ms Casanellas told a TV reporter.

As the search for the missing child begins, the couple plan to continue raising the baby they took home from the hospital: "If they can't find his mother, he already has parents, us." they said.