Two families are devastated after a home DNA test revealed their daughters had been switched at birth in the first documented case of its kind in the history of the NHS.
The ‘terrible mistake’, which caused untold emotional turmoil for those involved, meant that the two newborns – now adult women – were raised in the wrong homes for 50 years and learned the truth only by accident.
The women, now 57, were born within hours of each other in 1967 at the same hospital in the West Midlands, and the mistake is believed to have resulted from staff accidentally giving the babies the wrong identification tags.
Both grew up none the wiser about their biological origins until two years ago, the older brother of one of the women took a DNA test from genealogy website Ancestry – which allows users to learn more about their family history.
To his surprise, an analysis of his genetic makeup revealed a match with a woman whose DNA was so closely related that she could only be a full brother or sister.
The women, now 57, were born within hours of each other in the same hospital in the West Midlands in 1967. (Stock photo of a maternity ward in 1967)
Both grew up none the wiser about their biological origins until two years ago when the older brother of one of the women took a DNA test (stock photo)
When they discovered she had been born in the same hospital within hours of the woman he thought was his biological younger sister, they realized “the only explanation” was that the babies had been switched.
The Trust involved has admitted liability for the mistake and the NHS plans to pay an undisclosed amount of compensation to both families.
The shocking case emerged in an episode of BBC podcast The Gift, which explores the family secrets revealed by DNA test results at home.
In it, 83-year-old widow Joan, the mother of one of the women, describes how she met her biological daughter Claire for the first time – and how painful it was to tell Jessica, the daughter she thought was hers. what the test had yielded. revealed. The names of both women have been changed.
“It just felt good,” Joan said of meeting Claire. ‘We hugged each other. I thought, ‘She looks exactly like she did when I was younger.’
I just felt immediately connected to her. It was remarkable. I feel like I’ve gained a daughter.’
But she also revealed the grief the bomb has caused the family, especially Jessica.
“Jessica took it pretty badly,” she said. ‘She doesn’t talk to me anymore. It’s still hard to take it all in, especially at my age. I feel like I’ve lost time, I’ve lost a big part of my life now. I’ve lost time with Claire.’
The Trust involved has admitted liability for the mistake and the NHS plans to pay an undisclosed amount of compensation to both families (stock photo)
Although there are no other known cases of baby swapping, the chance of human error is significantly reduced these days (stock photo)
Joan already had three boys – and had given birth to two stillborn daughters – when she finally had a healthy baby girl in 1967. As was customary at the time, the baby was taken to daycare at night so Joan could sleep.
When she returned the next morning, she checked to see if her name tag was correct. Back then, babies were given handwritten paper tags and tags on their cribs.
Although there are no other known cases of baby swapping, the chance of human error is significantly reduced these days. Since the 1980s, newborns and mothers have been given matching tags with a unique identification code after delivery. And since the mid-1990s, babies have been fitted with traceable radio frequency identification tags.
While mistakes do happen, the tendency is for twins to be mixed up or for a baby to be taken to the wrong mother on a ward – all of which are corrected before families take their babies home.
In Joan’s case, there was no reason to suspect anything untoward until her eldest son Tony, now 67, had a DNA test before Christmas 2021.
He took the test and sent a sample of his saliva two months later. The results were uploaded to Ancestry’s global database, which can “match” related users based on the amount of DNA they share. Normally, full siblings share about 50 percent of their genetics.
Tony’s results linked him to Claire – who he had never met and who also took a DNA test. The database claimed she was his sister based on their shared genetic information.
He contacted Claire via the site’s private messaging feature, thinking it was a mistake.
The Hospital Trust that made the mistake, which was not identified, admitted full responsibility for the incident (stock photo)
Claire said the explanation had ‘answered a lot of questions’ in her life, as she had ‘always felt like an outsider’ in her own family (stock photo)
Tony told the podcast: ‘Claire replied immediately, stating her date of birth and the hospital she was born in. It was clear what had happened. It was the same as my sister, Jessica. It’s clear the babies have been switched.’
Claire said the explanation had “answered a lot of questions” in her life, as she had “always felt like an outsider” in her own family.
But for Joan, the revelations were painful. ‘I had to endure the loss of two stillborn daughters. If I get a girl, it’ll be the wrong one. “I wanted to know if she had a good life, if she was happy, if she was doing well,” she said.
Tony invited Claire to meet them at the family home, where she formed an ‘instant’ bond with Joan, who she now calls ‘Mum’.
“We just hugged each other and cried,” Claire said.
‘And I looked [Joan] and I said, ‘Oh my God, I have your eyes. We have the same eyes. Oh my god, I look like someone.”
“It was so bizarre, like we’ve known each other forever.”
In a tragic twist, Claire revealed that, unlike the supportive upbringing she should have received, her childhood was difficult.
Her parents divorced when she was two and she grew up in poverty, experiencing homelessness and hunger. Claire also has two sons and three grandsons who have been welcomed into the family.
But for Jessica, who declined to be interviewed for the podcast, the revelations were harder to process. Her biological mother, who raised Claire, died earlier this year after refusing to accept that Jessica could be her daughter.
It has also left Jessica estranged from the only family she has ever known.
“No matter how much we said, nothing changed,” Joan said. “Jessica’s response every time was, ‘Everything has changed.’ She is still my daughter, and always will be.”
The Hospital Trust that made the mistake, which has not been identified, has admitted full responsibility for the incident. It cannot shed further light on the error as it no longer has data going back that far.
NHS Resolution, which handles legal claims against the health service, apologized to the families, describing it as a “unique and complex case” and saying it was working to determine how much compensation would be paid.
The Gift: Switched airs on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday at 9.30am and can be heard now on BBC Sounds.