They were both born in 1967, in the same hospital in the United Kingdom. Until 2022, they did not know each other. Emma and Emily (not their real names) discovered they had been switched at birth. Our BBC colleagues tell their story.
It doesn’t just happen in movies. Emma and Emily were born just hours apart in 1967. 55 years later, they discovered they had not been raised by their biological family. They were exchanged at birth.
It was thanks to DNA tests that the two families learned the news. In 2020, Emma’s son gave her one of these tests for her birthday. If there were some anomalies, the latter did not ask herself any more questions than that. But in 2022, a man contacts her. It’s John. He took a test and claims Emma is his biological sister.
“There was no resemblance”
Very quickly, Emma thinks she was adopted. She never felt like she belonged to the family she grew up in. “There was no resemblance in appearance or character traits.“, she tells our British colleagues.
But the story doesn’t end there. John explains that he has a sister born in the same hospital at almost the same time. Their mother (Lily) also testified to the BBC that after the birth, her baby was quickly placed in the nursery. We know today that the next day, it was Emily who was entrusted to the latter.
She doesn’t call her mom anymore
Emily doesn’t take the news very well. She did not wish to speak to the BBC. Lily explained that she has moved away since these revelations and that she no longer calls her mom. “It makes no difference to me that Emily is not my biological daughter. She remains my daughter and she always will be“, she assures.
Emma, for her part, agreed to meet her biological family and in particular Lily: “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!“She is now close to them.”I would like to spend as much time with them as possible, of course, but that time is over. It was stolen from us“, she laments. The two families are now seeking compensation.
england babies exchanged at birth
