Swapped at birth: How two women discovered they weren’t who they thought they were

Two families successful the West Midlands are waiting for compensation successful the archetypal documented lawsuit of babies being switched astatine commencement successful NHS history.

It was lone taken retired of idle curiosity 1 rainy winter’s time – but the shocking effect of a DNA trial was to unit 2 women and their families to reassess everything they knew astir themselves.

When Tony’s friends bought him a DNA home-testing kit for Christmas successful 2021, helium near it connected his room sideboard and forgot astir it for 2 months.

It did not drawback his oculus again until 1 time successful February. Tony was astatine location and bored due to the fact that his play circular of play had been rained off. He spat into the illustration tube, sent the kit off, and didn’t deliberation astir it for weeks.

The results came connected a Sunday evening. Tony was connected the telephone to his mother, Joan, erstwhile the email arrived.

At first, everything looked arsenic he’d expected. The trial pinpointed the spot successful Ireland wherever his maternal household came from. A relative was connected his household tree. His sister was determination too.

But erstwhile helium looked astatine his sister’s name, it was wrong. Instead of Jessica, idiosyncratic called Claire was listed arsenic his afloat sibling (Jessica and Claire are not their existent names – some person been changed, to support the women's identity).

Tony is the eldest of Joan’s 4 children. After 3 sons, she had longed for a daughter. She yet got her privation erstwhile Jessica arrived successful 1967.

“It was a fantastic feeling, astatine agelong past having a girl,” Joan tells me.

However, she was instantly anxious erstwhile she heard determination was thing unexpected successful Tony’s DNA results. He was, too, but helium tried not to amusement it. Ten years aft his father’s death, Tony’s parent was successful her 80s and surviving alone. He didn’t privation to interest her.

The adjacent morning, helium utilized the DNA investigating company’s backstage messaging installation to interaction Claire, the pistillate it claimed was his sister.

“Hi,” helium wrote. “My name's Tony. I've done this DNA test. You've travel up arsenic a afloat sibling. I'm reasoning it's a mistake. Can you shed immoderate airy connected it?”

Claire had been fixed the aforesaid marque of DNA trial 2 years earlier, arsenic a day contiguous from her son.

Her results had besides been unusual - determination was nary transportation to wherever her parents were born, and she had a familial nexus to a archetypal relative she didn’t cognize and couldn’t explain.

Then, successful 2022, she received a notification - a afloat sibling had joined her household tree.

It was baffling. But successful 1 way, it made cleanable sense. Growing up, Claire had ne'er felt similar she belonged.

“I felt similar an imposter,” she says. “There were nary similarities, successful looks oregon traits,” she tells me. “I thought, ‘yes – I’m adopted.’”

The Gift: Switched

In the archetypal bid of The Gift, Jenny Kleeman looked astatine the bonzer truths that tin unravel erstwhile radical instrumentality at-home DNA tests similar Ancestry and 23andMe.

For the 2nd series, Jenny is going deeper into the unintended consequences - the aftershocks - acceptable successful question erstwhile radical nexus up to the tremendous planetary DNA database.

Listen connected BBC Sounds oregon connected BBC Radio 4 astatine 09:30, Wednesday 6 November

When Claire and Tony started exchanging messages and biographical details, they discovered that Claire had been calved astir the aforesaid clip and successful the aforesaid infirmary arsenic Jessica, the sister Tony had grown up with.

An unavoidable mentation began to look - the 2 babe girls had been switched astatine birth, 55 years previously, and brought up successful antithetic families.

Cases wherever babies person been accidentally swapped connected maternity wards are practically unheard of successful the UK. In effect to a 2017 Freedom of Information request, the NHS replied that arsenic acold arsenic its records showed, determination were nary documented incidents of babies being sent location with the incorrect parents.

Since the 1980s, newborns person been fixed vigor frequence recognition (RFID) tags instantly aft their birth, which let their determination to beryllium tracked. Before then, maternity wards relied connected handwritten tags and cards connected cots.

As they tried to sorb the news, Claire and Tony had to determine what to bash next.

“The ripples from this volition beryllium enormous,” Tony wrote to Claire. “If you privation to permission it here, past I'll perfectly judge that, and we won't advancement this astatine all.”

Without hesitation, Claire knew that she wanted to conscionable Tony and the parent they shared.

“I conscionable wanted to spot them, conscionable them, speech to them and clasp them,” she says.”

When Tony yet told Joan what the DNA trial had revealed, she was hopeless for answers. How could this person happened?

Joan’s memories of the nighttime her girl was calved are vivid. She had been owed to springiness commencement astatine home, but due to the fact that she had precocious humor pressure, her labour was induced successful a West Midlands hospital.

“They took maine successful connected a Sunday,” she says. “It snowed that day.”

The babe was calved astatine astir 22:20. Joan held her much-longed-for girl for lone for a fewer minutes – she remembers gazing astatine the newborn’s reddish look and matted hair.

The babe was past taken distant to the nursery for the nighttime truthful her parent could rest. This was communal signifier successful the 1960s.

A mates of hours later, conscionable aft midnight, Jessica was calved successful the aforesaid hospital.

The adjacent morning, Joan was handed Jessica alternatively of her biologic daughter, Claire.

This babe had just hairsbreadth – dissimilar the remainder of the family, who were each acheronian - but Joan thought thing of it. There were aunts and cousins with akin colouring.

By the clip her hubby arrived astatine the infirmary to conscionable babe Jessica, they were excessively delighted with their caller accomplishment to person immoderate doubts.

Fifty-five years later, Joan was hopeless to cognize what benignant of beingness Claire had had. Had she grown up happy?

But earlier she could get answers, she and Tony had to interruption the quality to Jessica, who had lived her full beingness believing Joan was her mother, and Tony was her brother.

Tony and Joan travelled to Jessica’s location to archer her successful person. Joan says she reassured her that they would ever beryllium parent and daughter, but ever since, she says their narration has not been the same.

Jessica did not privation to beryllium interviewed successful transportation with this story.

A time aboriginal – and lone 5 days aft Tony got his DNA results - Claire travelled the abbreviated region betwixt her location and Joan’s.

For years, she had been driving done Joan’s colony connected her mode to and from work, ne'er knowing that this was wherever her biologic parent lived.

Tony was waiting for her successful the driveway. “Hi Sis,” helium said. “Come and conscionable Mum.”

Claire says that from the infinitesimal she saw Joan, it felt similar they had ever known each other: “I looked astatine her, and I said, ’Oh my God, I've got your eyes! We person the aforesaid eyes. Oh my God, I look similar someone!’”

“It conscionable felt right,” Joan says. “I thought, she looked conscionable similar I did successful my younger days.”

They spent the day poring implicit household photographs. Claire told Tony and Joan astir her partner, her children and grandchildren. They told her each astir the biologic begetter she would ne'er get to meet.

But erstwhile it came to questions astir whether she had had a blessed childhood, Claire was evasive.

“I couldn’t archer the information then,” she says. “My parents separated erstwhile I was precise young. I don't retrieve them being together. I was raised successful implicit poverty, homelessness, often went hungry, and each that entails. It was a precise hard childhood.”

Claire says that breaking the quality to the parent who raised her was the hardest happening she’s ever had to do.

She says she did her champion to reassure some the parents she had grown up with, that thing would alteration successful their relationship. Her parent died earlier this year.

As good arsenic coming to presumption with a caller familial identity, determination were applicable implications for Claire, too. Because she had been calved earlier midnight, she discovered she was a time older than she antecedently thought: “My commencement certificate is wrong, my passport, my driving licence - everything is wrong.”

A mates of weeks aft making the discovery, Tony wrote to the NHS spot that oversees the infirmary wherever Claire and Jessica were switched, explaining what the location DNA tests had revealed.

The spot admitted liability – though two-and-a-half years later, the level of compensation has yet to beryllium agreed. Tony and Joan accidental they were told it would beryllium finalised past year.

We contacted NHS Resolution which handles complaints against the NHS. It said the babe swap was an “appalling error” for which it had accepted ineligible liability.

However, it said that it was a “unique and analyzable case” and that it was inactive moving to hold connected the magnitude of compensation that was due.

Claire and Joan person been discovering however overmuch they person successful common, specified arsenic their tastes successful apparel and food, and however they instrumentality their tea. They’ve been connected holiday, exploring their biologic roots successful Ireland, and they spent past Christmas together.

“We’re precise close,” Claire says of her recently discovered family. “I'd similar to walk arsenic overmuch clip arsenic I tin with them, of course, but that clip is gone. It was taken away.”

While Claire present calls her “Mum”, Joan tells maine that Jessica nary longer does. But Joan feels lone that she has gained a daughter.

“It doesn't marque immoderate quality to maine that Jessica isn't my biologic daughter,” she says. “She's inactive my girl and she ever volition be.”