Baby Girls Switched at Birth Only Realize the Mistake More Than 50 Years Later After DNA Test: A ‘Unique and Complex Case’
Two women found out that they went to different parents after being born in the same U.K. hospital at around the same time in 1967
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Babies' feet (stock image)Being switched at birth is a rare occurrence — but it's something two women in the U.K. are now coming to terms with after making the startling discovery.
The women — both from the Midlands area of England — found out that they went to different parents after being born in the same hospital in 1967 in the first documented incident of babies switched at birth by the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS), according to BBC.
It all started when a man named Tony took a DNA home-testing kit for Christmas in 2021. The results confirmed he had a sister, but named someone else other than the sibling he grew up with. Tony told the outlet that he reached out to the woman, whom BBC identified under the pseudonym Claire, asking to provide clarification on the DNA test.
Claire told the outlet that she had taken the test two years prior, and it revealed no ties to where her parents were born and a genetic link to a family member she did not know.
After messaging back and forth, Claire and Tony found out that Tony’s sister, named under the pseudonym Jessica, and Claire were both born at the same hospital around the same time 55 years ago. They began to believe that they had been switched at birth.
The NHS did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the incident.
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A sleeping newborn baby (stock image)The health system, however, told BBC in response to a freedom of information request that there were no documented incidents in its records of babies being sent home with the wrong parents.
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Claire told the outlet that she opted to meet the family she believed she may have been originally born into, saying, “I just wanted to see them, meet them, talk to them and embrace them.”
Claire said that when she finally made the drive to Tony and his mother Joan’s home — located in a village that she coincidentally often drove through to get to work — the pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place.
Related: 2 Okla. Women Learn They Were Switched at Birth 57 Years Ago After Taking DNA Tests
“I looked at [Joan] and I said, ’Oh my God, I've got your eyes! We have the same eyes. Oh my God, I look like someone!’ ” Claire recalled to BBC.
“It just felt right,” Joan added. “I thought, ‘She looked just like I did in my younger days.’ ”
Claire also said she realized that she was one day older than she actually was, as she was born a few hours earlier than she originally thought. “My birth certificate is wrong, my passport, my driving license — everything is wrong,” she told the outlet.
Following the discovery, Tony contacted the NHS trust that oversees the hospital where the two women were born. The NHS Resolution told BBC that the incident was an “appalling error” and accepted legal liability. It also noted that it is still working on the amount of compensation due, as it was a “unique and complex case.”
