Czech Police Investigate Swapped Babies

Parents Jan Cermak, left, and Jaroslava Cermakova, center, pose for photographer with ten months old baby girl Veronika at their home in Pribyslavice, some 160 kilometers southeast of Prague, on Monday, Oct. 8, 2007. Veronika was mixed up with other girl Nikola (the baby on the small picture in womans hand) in the Trebic hospital, south Moravia, upon their birth December 2006. The two baby girls will return to their biological parents, both girls families agreed on Thursday, Oct. 4. The mix-up was discovered by one of the couples recently. The parents decided to have themselves DNA tested since they had doubts about the child, who was blond while both of them are dark-haired. The test revealed that not only the father but also the mother had a different DNA than the girl. The identity of Nikola and Veronika is yet to be confirmed by further DNA tests that are expected to be ready next week. The girls parents agreed they would exchange the girls before their birthday on December 9 or by Christmas at the latest. They will also rename the girls as they originally wished. One of the fathers has said he will require a compensation of ten million crows from the Trebic hospital, one million for each month of bringing up the wrong child. (AP Photo/CTK, Lubos Pavlicek) (Pavlicek Lubos - AP)

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Nikola and Veronika both were born last Dec. 9, delighting two sets of parents who brought home what they thought were their bundles of joy.

Now, 10 months later, Czech authorities are investigating what officials at a hospital in the country's southeast say was a frightful mistake: The girls _ somehow swapped at birth _ wound up with the wrong families.

As police looked into the case at the clinic in the town of Trebic, 100 miles southeast of Prague, the infants' parents were meeting in a secret location to discuss how best to return the babies to their rightful homes, officials said Wednesday.

Police spokeswoman Marcela Lavicka said the investigation was in its early stages and that it was not yet clear when investigators would begin questioning the hospital's staff.

The hospital said in a statement Wednesday that it was cooperating with police and that it was about to wrap up its own internal investigation into what it called a "regrettable case."

Hospital director Petr Mayer apologized to the parents and offered them help in solving the problem, the clinic said.

The apparently accidental mix-up came to light earlier this year when Nikola's father, Libor Broza, became suspicious because his daughter did not resemble him. He had his DNA tested. The results: He could not have fathered Nikola.

Broza's partner, Jaroslava Trojanova, had a maternity test, and her results also were negative.

Lavicka said the other couple, Jan Cermak and his wife, Jaroslava Cermakova, also had paternity and maternity tests done, and the results should be known next week.

Both couples, who met last week for the first time and were introduced to each other's girls, have agreed to swap their daughters before the end of the year.

"Our daughter looks so much like me that I don't need any DNA tests to know she is mine," Broza told Czech radio.

"Of course, we are happy, but on the other hand, we also feel terrible," Trojanova said.

Health Minister Tomas Julinek said he could not rule out the possibility that similar mix-ups have happened in the past. In an interview with Impuls radio this week, he said Nikola's and Veronika's parents should be compensated.

The couples reportedly plan to take legal action against the hospital. Broza and Trojanova plan to seek $510,000 in damages, reports said.

On Wednesday, the couples met to swap stories about the girls, including what they like to eat, what illnesses they've had and what their favorite fairytales are.

"The main reason for the meeting is to get the families ready for the exchange and learn more about each other," psychologist Olga Hinkova, who is helping the couples through the transition, was quoted as saying in Wednesday's edition of the Mlada Fronta Dnes daily.

"It will be more difficult for the mothers to cope with it than for the children," she said.

(SUBS graf 14 to correct to legal action against hospital.)