The BBC published this Saturday, November 2, the story of two English women who were exchanged at birth and only discovered it 55 years later, thanks to a DNA test offered to the brother of one of them.
An entire life falling apart. On a snowy Sunday evening in the winter of 1967, Joan went into emergency delivery in a hospital in the West Midlands, England, of her fourth child. A little girl born at 10:20 p.m. that the BBC nicknames Jessica. Mother and daughter spent a long time cuddled together before medical staff took the newborn to the nursery for the night to let Joan rest, as was done in those days. And then 55 years passed before all their certainties were shattered.
One evening in February 2022, Tony, Joan’s eldest son, took the DNA test that his friends had given him for Christmas, just for fun. However, upon receiving the results, the man had a shock: his sister appeared on his family tree, but under another name (which the BBC replaced with Claire). Intrigued and after having said a few words to his mother, taking care not to worry her too much, Tony wrote to this famous Claire, asking her: “You appeared like a full-fledged brother or sister. I think this is a mistake. Can you enlighten me on this? »
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An error that went unnoticed for 55 years
The young woman then explained to him that she had carried out a DNA test herself two years earlier and had been very surprised to discover that she had no link with her parents. “It was disconcerting, but in a way it made perfect sense,” the young woman told the BBC. “I always felt like an imposter in my family. There was no resemblance, neither in appearance nor in character traits. I said to myself, “Yes, I’m adopted.” »
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But upon discovering the existence of this brother, Claire understood that the reality was beyond belief: she and Jessica had been born on the same night, just a few hours apart, in the same clinic in the West Midlands… and had were inadvertently exchanged at birth! An error that her mother never suspected, not even seeing that her daughter was blonde while the rest of the family was dark.
Eager to know her real family, Claire agreed to meet Tony and Joan. And as soon as mother and daughter met, Claire had the impression that they had known each other forever: “I looked at her and said: ‘Oh my God, I have your eyes! We have the same eyes. Oh my God, I look like someone! Joan showed her the family albums, speaking at length about her father, who had died ten years earlier, and the two women went on vacation together, although Claire did her best, at the same time, to maintain her relationship with her parents. “adoptives” intact.
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Jessica had a harder time accepting the news and her relationship with Joan “is no longer the same”. “She remains my daughter and she always will be,” Joan promises. The hospital admitted its fault, admitting that it was a “terrible mistake”, and promised to compensate the victims before the end of this year.
In 2017, English health authorities said they were not aware of any records of babies being exchanged at birth. This case could be the first.
