Rich Cushworth and his wife Mercy Casanalles fell in love when they met at Christ for the Nations missionary school in Dallas. When Mercy got pregnant, she had to return home to give birth, as she was in Texas with a temporary visa from El Salvador. Rich stayed in the U.S. and awaited his wife’s return. However, as soon as the nurse handed Mercy her newborn son Jacob, she knew something was terribly wrong.
“When I got him, I said, ‘This is not my baby,’” Mercy told WFAA.
Something in her gut, call it maternal instinct, told her this was not her child. But how was she to really argue? With that, they took the little guy home.
Still, it was an itch she couldn’t scratch. After a couple of months, Mercy had a DNA test done. Jacob was not their son. She had always known it, but it wasn’t easy to accept. Biological or not, Mercy and Rich formed a strong bond with him. The only question left: where was their biological son?
After reaching out to the proper officials, Mercy and Rich returned Jacob to his biological family. However, the El Salvadorian government was not welcoming to their biological son Moses.They refused to give him a birth certificate or passport to travel to the United States for an entire year.
After a long battle with the government, Rich and Mercy have come back home with their baby boy.
“[We’re] very thankful, very happy,” Rich said.
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