Child Sale Allegations at Republican Hospital: Mother Claims Daughter is Alive

MediaHub reports: "Another scandal is unfolding around the Armenia Republican Hospital. MediaHub received an alert from a mother who was told that her fetus was deceased, but subsequent events tell a different story.

“I was hospitalized on February 16 or 17, 2023, and by February 21, at 19:35, it was recorded in the Armed system that the child was dead, while I gave birth on the night of March 3-4 at 01:00,” Armine Harutyunyan told us.

Armine was six and a half months pregnant when Ararat Danielyan assisted in the delivery. “I underwent a sonogram, and they always said the baby was healthy, the heart was fine. Later, while checking the incision, the same doctor told me there was not even a spoonful of amniotic fluid, but during the delivery, he burst the amniotic sac, and a lot of amniotic fluid spilled out. I asked, ‘What was that?’ He said, ‘That’s the amniotic fluid.’ I replied, ‘But you said there was none,’ and he said, ‘What can I do, I’ve already burst it,’” she recounted.

Armine noted she was admitted under suspicion of COVID, but initially tested negative. The doctor called to inform her that COVID was not diagnosed, but soon a nurse came and said she needed to be isolated.

“When I said the test result was negative, I checked the Armed system and saw the negative result had been changed to positive,” Armine indicated. The pregnant woman was then hospitalized, underwent tests, and it was decided that she would have to give birth quickly since the fetus was thought to be deceased. She claims the decision was made hastily.

“When the baby was born, the attending physician threw the child onto the metal table and said, ‘Good, the baby is dead,’ but there was also a Russian doctor present who said, ‘Give it to me; the baby is breathing.’ I saw that the baby was breathing; they took her, cleaned her, weighed her, and measured her height. I heard a low sound from the baby. Then they wrapped the baby and placed her in a special appliance. Afterward, a nurse came, held the baby, and took her away. After that, I didn’t see the baby again; they told me, ‘She died,’” Armine shared.

The mother states that she later went to the deputy director of the hospital, demanding a death certificate, but he replied, “Ten minutes of life is not life enough to issue a death certificate now.”

“Then they said the baby had been sent for examination. I said, ‘Then you will return the body to me.’ We waited forty days for a response; the doctors avoided us when we went in. They said, ‘Go, we’ll prepare the paper; come back to take it.’ After forty days, the person providing the examination results stated that the baby was completely healthy and all developed. Later, when I asked for the body, they told me the hospital had stated that we had refused the body; in that case, the body is cremated,” she explained.

Armine stated that she had neither been able to obtain a death certificate nor believes that the body was cremated. She emphasizes that she would have accepted the bitter truth if not for various suspicious circumstances.

“After the baby was born, when I saw that she was breathing, I asked my attending physician, ‘Please keep the baby in an incubator; money is not an issue,’ but my doctor, Teresa Grigoryan, along with her husband, persuaded me that it was unnecessary, as even if she survived, the child would have downs syndrome. They said, ‘Well, do you want a downs baby?’ All this passed, and a couple of months later, I received a call from the polyclinic saying that I should bring the baby for vaccination; I was so distraught I couldn’t grasp what they were saying and didn’t question anything. Now, again, a year later, I recently received a letter saying I should bring the baby for vaccination. Doubt crept into my mind, and I checked the Armed system to see that the note about the baby's death had been removed, and only the portion about my treatment remained. My suspicions deepened further,” Armine narrated.

She is convinced her daughter is alive and that she was sold. “I never believed from the beginning that the baby had died. Now I am even more sure that my child was sold. Every night I dream, and my daughter says, ‘Mom, I’m alive; come and take me,’” Armine Harutyunyan concluded.

MediaHub attempted to clarify with the Ministry of Health under what circumstances patient information is deleted from the Armed system. “No information is deleted from the system; if the doctor makes an error, they can close it on their end, but the information remains in the system. The patient simply no longer sees that incorrect information,” said Georgi Asatryan, head of the operational department of the Armed system. In this case, however, the information was not just closed, but changed, and all screenshots have been presented to us by the young woman. If the doctor made an error and closed the information about the baby’s death, where is Armine Harutyunyan’s daughter? We also await a response from the Ministry of Justice regarding how the newborn's death was recorded in the Civil Registry, and we will present it immediately upon receipt."