Saudi woman receives half a million dollar compensation following birth switch mishap
A Saudi woman has been awarded more than half a million dollars in compensation after learning that she was switched at birth, according to local reports.
The Board of Grievances in Mecca ruled that the hospital where she was born had to pay the woman at least two million riyals ($533,000) in compensation for damages caused by the mishap.
Local newspaper Al-Watan reported that the woman was given to another family in the Mecca hospital where she was born and raised in a poorer household following the switch at birth.
Her biological parents were significantly wealthier, according to Al-Watan.
The woman told the newspaper that growing up, she felt different from her family in terms of looks and other characteristics.
But it was only after noticing these differences, and being married off to a relative of her non-biological family, that she decided to complete a DNA test.
The woman then learnt that her biological mother had died before being made aware of the incident and meeting her.
The DNA test then prompted her to file a lawsuit in Mecca's General Court, where she sought compensation for the damage caused to her by living with the non-biological family.
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