DNA Test Uncovers 18-Year Baby Swap Nightmare at Mpilo Hospital
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe – October 11, 2025
Nearly two decades after their birth, two families have learned a shocking truth: their daughters, born at Mpilo Central Hospital on 13 May 2007, were swapped at birth.
The revelation, uncovered through DNA testing, has triggered calls for legal action and serious questions about hospital practices, accountability, and the emotional cost borne by all involved.
Discovery and DNA Testing
The situation came to light when a man from Bulawayo noticed that his youngest daughter bore no resemblance to her siblings. Suspicious, he arranged for a DNA test, which confirmed she was not his biological child. His wife, certain she was faithful, pursued the matter further.
Hospital records showed that only two girls were born at Mpilo that day. After tracing the other mother via social media in 2023, further DNA testing confirmed that the two girls had indeed been swapped.
Mpilo Hospital has acknowledged the mistake, attributing the swap to failures in systems of identification during the difficult economic crisis of 2007. Specifically, officials said that identification tags for newborns may have fallen off and been incorrectly reattached, citing understaffing and weak hospital systems at that time.
Meanwhile, hospital chief medical officer Dr. Narcisius Dzvanga has stated that the hospital needs time to retrieve records and form a proper response.
Impact on Families
The discovery has had a profound emotional impact. The families must wrestle with cultural identity, linguistic differences (one family is Shona-speaking; the other Ndebele-speaking), and the psychological effects of having grown up under mistaken beliefs about their origins.
Tragically, the father of the child raised by the family in Shurugwi passed away without ever learning the truth.
Despite the hospital’s acknowledgment, the families say they have not been offered psychological support or proper counselling to help cope with the trauma. They also claim that Mpilo has only urged both sides to “find common ground.”
Legal Implications
Advocate Thabani Mpofu, one of Zimbabwe’s top legal minds, believes the Mpilo baby-swap case could open new legal territory for the country. He argues that several potential causes of action may arise from the hospital’s negligence, each carrying serious implications for both the affected families and the institution.
According to Mpofu, both sets of parents have grounds to sue Mpilo Central Hospital for negligence that deprived them of the integrity and comfort of family life. Beyond that, the children themselves could bring separate claims for the loss of familial security, psychological injury, and the disruption of their personal development caused by being raised under false identities.
He further noted that the children might also claim damages for being compelled to live in cultural or linguistic environments different from their own, thereby experiencing a distortion of their identities. These claims, he explained, extend beyond negligence to touch on dignity, identity, and fundamental constitutional rights.
The main obstacle in any lawsuit will be quantifying damages, especially non-pecuniary ones like emotional distress, identity loss, and psychological harm.
Zimbabwe’s legal system, rooted in Roman-Dutch law, is traditionally conservative in awarding such damages. Nevertheless, legal minds believe that courts can make “principled, impression-based” awards where clear harm is shown.
This case compounds ongoing concerns about Mpilo Hospital’s reliability. In recent years, it has faced scandals such as the admission of nursing students with forged O’-Level certificates, and incidents of fake doctors treating patients. These have raised questions about oversight, process control, staffing and institutional culture.
As for what comes next: the families have reportedly engaged legal representation. A number of claim options are being explored.
The hospital has yet to issue a full statement detailing what reforms, if any, it has implemented regarding newborn identification and whether affected families will receive support beyond legal redress.
