Claire and Jessica, two British women born in 1967, discovered through a DNA test that they had been switched at birth. This case, documented for the first time in the United Kingdom, turned their lives upside down.
In an investigation published this Saturday, November 2, the BBC tells how they discovered this astonishing truth. In 2021, Tony, the eldest of four children, receives a DNA test for Christmas. The results are surprising: the person identified as his sister is not Jessica, with whom he grew up, but a certain Claire. Two years before, Claire had also taken a DNA test for her birthday, with equally disturbing results.
Faced with this revelation, Tony decides to find out more and contacts Claire. She, who felt out of place in her family, had always thought she had been adopted. By talking with Tony, she discovers that she was born only a few hours apart from Jessica, in the same hospital. After this discovery, Claire agrees to meet Tony and his biological mother, Joan. “I was like, 'Oh my God, I have the same eyes!'” she says. She will never see her biological father, who is now deceased. “I would like to spend as much time with them as possible, but that time is wasted. It has been taken away from us”she regrets. The woman who raised her died in 2024. Now she calls Joan “Maman”. Jessica, who did not wish to testify, moved away from the family. “It makes no difference to me that Jessica is not my biological daughter. She is still my daughter and always will be.”explains Joan.
An exchange at the maternity ward
According to the NHS (the English public hospital), no baby exchange had been documented until then. This took place in 1967. “It was snowing that day”remembers Joan. She was due to give birth at home, but ultimately had to go to the hospital due to her high blood pressure. Her baby was born at 10:20 p.m. before being taken to the nursery to let the mother rest. A few hours later, after midnight, Jessica was born. She was the one who was entrusted to Joan instead of Claire the next morning. The consequences of this exchange, described as“terrible mistake” by the NHS, are still being felt. “My birth certificate is fake, my passport, my driving license – everything is fake”confides Claire. Both families are still awaiting compensation.
