A Dublin mother has been left in a legal limbo for nine years after her son's birth certificate was issued to another couple who falsely claimed to be his parents.
The mother, identified yesterday as Sabrina on RTÉ's Livelineprogramme, has been told she will have to go to court to prove through blood or DNA tests that details on her son Dylan's birth cert are incorrect.
She has already incurred substantial legal costs, and says she cannot afford a test.
The case is one of a number which have been investigated by gardaí, all involving births in the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin and allegations that men have falsely claimed to be the fathers of children born to single women.
Sabrina's saga began shortly after Dylan was born in the Rotunda in 1998. Several weeks later, she went to the general register office on Lombard Street to obtain a birth cert for her son. However, she was told his birth had already been registered.
According to Sabrina, another woman forged her name on the application form, while a Romanian man claimed to be the father. Neither person was known to her and the woman's signature was completely different from her own, but they were able to obtain the birth cert without producing appropriate identification.
At her family's instigation, a Garda investigation was carried out, and an Irish woman and a Romanian man were questioned. However, no charges were brought as the security cameras at the register office were not working when Dylan's birth was registered and there was insufficient evidence for a conviction.
Sabrina has since brought her case to a solicitor and a number of TDs but has been unable to get a birth cert for her son. At the age of nine he needs a birth cert for schools and to obtain a passport.
The register office, which was decentralised two years ago to Roscommon, referred queries to the Department of Health. It said it could not comment on individual cases and, in the absence of specific information, was unable to investigate further.
