Ibenei Yanin is her biological father and she was accidentally swapped after birth.

Babies who are accidentally swapped at birth and raised by parents who are not their biological parents have to take the name of their biological father after the truth is known to avoid complications in the future, especially in terms of inheritance, says Kelantan mufti Mohamad Shukri Mohamad.

This, he said, also goes for adopted children.

He said the reason being that, under Islamic law, only the biological children have inheritance right to their parents’ property.

“Indeed, it is compulsory for a child to take the name of his/her biological father, The child cannot simply take the name of the adopted father. It is ‘haram’ if done intentionally, but in the case of babies who are accidentally swapped at birth, God forgives.

“In terms of the National Registration Department, if the law says the father’s name cannot be changed, it is all right, but it should be recorded that the child is adopted.

“Otherwise, the child can claim for the property in court,” he told Bernama when contacted.

Shukri was responding to a report about a twin sister who was swapped with another child at birth and how the three girls and the two affected families only found out the truth 19 years later.

The truth unfolded last year after a DNA test conducted in September last year confirmed that one of the twins had been switched at birth with another baby girl born just minutes apart.

The mistake, allegedly by a staff of a hospital in Kota Bharu, in placing the wrong name tags on two newborn babies, one of them a twin, 19 years ago, led to two of the girls being unknowingly raised by couples who are not their biological parents and taking the name of another man as their father.

According to Shukri, it was not an offence for the children who were swapped at birth to continue to stay with the family that had raised them because they have been regarded as a member of the family, being a “milk sibling”.

On the DNA test, Shukri said it could be accepted as a mechanism to determine “nasab” (lineage) between the child and father.

Heart attack

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that the emotional impact of knowing the truth was too much for the two families to bear.

Noratirah, said her father never recovered from the shock of the DNA test result which confirmed he was not her biological father, and died due to a heart attack just two months later.

She said the revelation was too heavy for him to endure after having lost his wife, Rahmah Isa, just two years earlier, due to diabetes.

Noratirah is the twin sister of Adryani Iwani. She was swapped at birth with Husin’s biological daughter who grew up as Adryana Iwani.

For 19 years, Adryani Iwani and Adryana Iwani grew up as non-identical twins, not realising that they were not even biological siblings.

Prior to his death, Noratirah said Husin also told her that he was sad at not having the opportunity to meet her biological father, Ibeni Yanin, who died in 2009.

Noratirah, who is taking a Diploma in Early Child Education at the Kota Bharu branch of Kolej Poly-Tech, said she has moved in to stay with her birth mother.

“However, I still maintain ties with the siblings I grew up with, and when possible we get together at our father’s house,” she said, adding that all of Husin’s children are married and have their own families.

Meanwhile, Adryani Iwani said her mother (Siti Aminah) also broke down after knowing that Adryana Iwani is not her biological daughter.

“She was also worried that the truth would hurt Ana (nickname for Ardyana Iwani) and called me to her room to inform the matter. She also told me not to talk about the result of the DNA test to Ana then,” she said.

As for Adryana Iwani, she said she was sad to only get to know her biological father for two months.

“When I first met him, I had mixed feelings, happy to be able to meet my biological father, and also afraid that he could not accept me.

“I am indeed sad to know that I belong to another family after 19 years. What saddens me more is not being able to meet my birth mother. We suffer because of other people’s mistakes,” the UiTM graduate said.