A woman has found out that she took home the wrong baby home about thirty years after giving birth in hospital.
Romualdo, in a red shirt, has now been united with his biological family
A devastated couple has only just learned their baby was swapped at birth in a hospital mix-up 38 years ago and that they had raised a stranger's child.
It was only when their 'son' decided to carry out a DNA test earlier this year the family discovered the shocking truth.
When Radigena and Geraldo Gaspar took new-born Romualdo home in 1980 they had no idea he wasn’t theirs.
But as he grew the couple, from Juruaia, southeast Brazil, noticed he looked different from the rest of the family.
So in February Romualdo decided to test his DNA to silence the local gossips who had plagued his life.
He said: “There were always malicious comments. The family tried to ignore them because we didn’t need to prove anything.
"Then I said, ‘let’s do the test then, to prove it and put a stop to them (rumours)'.”
But when he received the results he was stunned to discover he wasn’t related to the couple who had raised him.
The shocked family then started a desperate search for the truth - and their long-lost son.
They asked the hospital Monsenhor Genesio for the names of all the babies born between October 1 and 7 1980.
Only two on the list were boys, and when they found a photo of one of them - Noel - they were sure he was the one who was their biological son.
However, when they spoke to a neighbour where Noel used to live they were told the tragic news he had died aged just one.
Romualdo embraces his sister, Nelma Rezende, during the emotional reunion
The couple gave up the search, but Noel’s sister, Nelma Rezende, started her own hunt for her real brother on learning of the Gaspar's story from the neighbour .
Nelma’s husband Caio eventually tracked Romualdo down after finding his godparents through the local registry office.
He said when he finally saw a photo of Romualdo he felt "sick" as the similarity to his wife was incredible.
"At that moment I had no doubt that he was my wife’s brother,” he added.
After Nelma made contact with her biological brother, a DNA test confirmed he was the son of Nelma’s parents, Osvaldo and Valdevina de Lima.
This week Romualdo finally met his biological parents, who live just a few miles away in the same town.
He also discovered he has eight more brothers and sisters and 18 nieces and nephews.
His real mum Valdevina, who lost the boy she believed was her real son in 1981, told Brazil’s G1 website: “After 38 years, at first I thought this was all a joke.
“But over time the penny dropped, that it was all true.”
Romulado added : “For me, this has no price. No money could buy the happiness that I feel at the moment.”
The couple who brought him up believing he was their son are still holding on to the hope their real son is still alive - and are determined to find him.
Radigena Gaspar said: “I am not convinced that it was really my son who died.
"My heart tells me that my son is still alive. I want so much to encounter him.”
The Monsenhor Genesio in Juruaia at the centre of the mix-up said they have no comment to make on the case.
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