Couple accuse El Salvador doctor of child swapping

A British man and his wife have accused a doctor at a hospital in El Salvador of swapping their newborn son at the behest of child traffickers, the media reported on Tuesday.

Richard Cushworth from West Yorkshire and his Salvadoran wife Mercedes Casanella said a DNA test has confirmed the boy they are raising is not their son, BBC reported.

Local media say their child has now been found, after testing other babies born at the hospital on the same day.

The doctor, who denies any wrongdoing, is being prosecuted by the authorities.

At a hearing in the Central American country on Monday, a court ruled the case against doctor Alejandro Guidos should proceed and ruled that he could not leave the country. It also ordered that a new DNA test should be carried out following a request from Guidos' lawyers.

The couple, who attended the hearing, had originally travelled to El Salvador in May to have their baby in the mother's homeland. But Casanella said she became suspicious because the skin colour of the baby she was handed to take home was darker than that of the boy she saw after giving birth and their features were different.

When the couple returned to their home in the US they eventually decided to have a DNA test which they say confirmed the baby was not theirs.

Casanella has vowed to find her real child.