Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago

Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (Full Version)

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Vendaval -> Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/12/2009 3:43:39 PM)
Anyone else been following this human interest story? Two women born in the same hospital in the same town were accidentally switched and given to the wrong families. 56 years later they have confirmation by DNA testing and are in a state of shock and disbelief. "Ore. babies switched at birth meet 56 years later" Tue May 12, 6:17 am ET "HEPPNER, Ore. – On a spring day in 1953, two baby girls were born at Pioneer Memorial Hospital in eastern Oregon. They grew up happily, got married, had kids of their own and became grandparents. Then last summer their lives were turned upside down. Kay Rene Reed Qualls found out that she and DeeAnn Angell Shafer were switched at birth. They recently met for the first time and underwent DNA tests after a woman who knew both their mothers called Qualls' brother with her suspicion. Qualls' brother, Bobby Reed, said the 86-year-old woman knew his mother and had also lived next door to the Angell family. "She said she had something she had to get off her chest," he told the East Oregonian newspaper in a story published Monday. The woman, whom he declined to identify by name, told him that his mother, Marjorie Angell, had insisted back in 1953 she had been given the wrong baby after the nurses returned from bathing the two newborns, but her concerns were brushed off." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_switched_at_birth;_ylt=AhVdmDdHqAgnlh5zsfeXPmbZn414

Termyn8or -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/12/2009 4:13:35 PM)
An in depth study of their lives might provide some data for the nature vs nurture issue described in another post. Would be interesting I think. T

Louve00 -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/12/2009 4:54:32 PM)
Wow, never heard this story before, thanks for posting it. Could you imagine??

Vendaval -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/12/2009 5:30:12 PM)
It would be a big shock to everyone involved. And I would definately want to know why noone had the fortitude to bring up the subject previously!

ThatDamnedPanda -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/12/2009 6:36:45 PM)
Jesus! So now do they have to switch husbands, children, and grandchildren, and move into each other's houses? Switch jobs? Bank accounts? Can you imagine how hard it's going to be for their dogs to figure this out? What's this going to do to their credit ratings? What if their clothes don't fit each other? The disruption this is going to cause will be nothing short of incredible...

dreamerdreaming -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/12/2009 6:42:49 PM)
Why didn't they have the little identifying wrist bracelets with their names on them, that hospitals all give at birth? I got one when I was in the ER for three hours, the other day. The moral of the story (besides insisting on the identifying bracelets for your beloved) is: if something as big as that may have gone wrong, insist on persuing the matter until there is conclusive physical proof. The nurses, doctors and the parents all should have persued the matter.

Louve00 -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/12/2009 6:46:18 PM)
lol, Panda. I would bet it would be a shock to everyone involved. 56 years ago, and all the possibilities. Kinda makes ya wonder now just how seldom that might happen...and makes me think of people who don't look anything like their family members. But that must be a head-trip for everyone involved. I keep trying to honestly put myself in that position, and I can't. I'm glad I can see the likeness of my family members in me. I'm glad my daughter looks like me! lol

Louve00 -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/12/2009 6:52:55 PM)
And does make you wonder why no one had the fortitude to look into it. The mother who said it wasn't her baby...the nurses who bathed the babies. I'm not sure if they had DNA testing 56 years ago or not...or how they could definitively determine a mistake like that. I'm not sure, me, as a mother, could have let that suspicion just drop though.

Vendaval -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/12/2009 7:04:39 PM)
DNA testing was not available that many years ago but at least the subject could have been investigated better by the hospital and families involved.

FangsNfeet -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/12/2009 7:45:17 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: dreamerdreaming Why didn't they have the little identifying wrist bracelets with their names on them, that hospitals all give at birth? I got one when I was in the ER for three hours, the other day. It was 1953 when this switch took place. Not all the safe guards we use today took place back then. Braclets if any used back then could have been taken off for the bath. Perhaps it was just the craddles that were marked with a name. The 50's were the dawn of most women giving birth in hospitals. Before then, most babies were born at home. For many hospitals in small towns, the 50's were the start of having a functional L&D with a baby ward unit. A new system added with the Baby Boomer age just wasn't a good combo. Now days, most hospitals make matching braclets both number and color coded that instantly get but on the baby at birth. The bracelets are checked one last time before the mother and baby leave. In any case, no system is 100% full proof. But an evolution of methods and procedurs continue to be made to eliminate these crazy mix ups at the 99.99% level.

cpK69 -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/12/2009 8:07:13 PM)
It would have been a real bummer if one or both had turned out to not like their life/lives. Seems like they might be able to turn it in to an extended family situation; that might be kool. Kim

freyjasdottir -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/12/2009 11:12:29 PM)
The bracelet my uncle who is in his early 60's got a birth was beads with his first name on it in white beads and the rest in blue. That was a major hospital in Baltimore. My father, five years later, nothing in a hospital outside of Pittsburgh, PA. This may have happened more often than we would guess.

BKSir -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/12/2009 11:15:15 PM)
Wow, I'm thinking "Whoops!" doesn't even begin to cover it. >.<

slaveluci -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/13/2009 5:47:38 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: freyjasdottir The bracelet my uncle who is in his early 60's got a birth was beads with his first name on it in white beads and the rest in blue. That was a major hospital in Baltimore. My father, five years later, nothing in a hospital outside of Pittsburgh, PA. This may have happened more often than we would guess. I was born in 1972 in WV and in my first baby picture I am wearing a similar beaded bracelet. Looking back, I thought it was cute but I've never seen it in photos of others. Must have been a semi-popular thing then. Interesting. It looked like it could definitely just be slipped right off, though. I'd claim I was switched at birth but I'm the spitting image of my dad and have the same personality traits too so no dice on that claim[:)] luci

PanthersMom -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/13/2009 6:01:21 AM)
i would imagine that the parties involved might have some interesting conflicting emotions to deal with. the "what ifs" are pretty far reaching, from what their childhoods would have been like to the interaction with parents, choices in mates, careers and so on. i wonder if the parents of both women are still alive, what they would say. PM

sirsholly -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/13/2009 6:16:30 AM)
i cannot imagine the pain these families have gone through...among so many other emotions.

Arpig -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/13/2009 9:15:29 AM)
What I can't understand is why, after 56 years the women involved would even bother going through the DNA testing. They have made their lives and what possible difference could it make if they were switched at birth. The parents raised them as their own, they married and reaised their families, all with no adverse effects of the switch. As for the nosy neighbour who brought the issue up, again, why bother, what possible good could it do, and what harm was actually done all those years ago, all that has been acheived is to cause distress to the families of two women, through no fault of their own...well done indeed!

FangsNfeet -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/13/2009 8:32:02 PM)
Believe it or not Arpig, it's a good thing that the truth has come out. The most important reason being that of medical value. By knowing your biological families medical history, you can better pin point, treat, and or even prevent conditions linked to genetic disposition.

sophia37 -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/14/2009 3:06:27 PM)
Im adopted and to me, what a bummer. I think its good they found out thru DNA. Health and genetics are a very important part of who we are as well. I hope there are no hard feelings and that each family welcomes the other family into their lives.

Arpig -> RE: Two women swiched at birth, 56 years ago (5/14/2009 8:25:09 PM)
I can understand the family genetics aspect of things, but after 56 years, most genetic issues would have presented by then one would think. If it were me, I would be seriously pissed off at the busybody who brought it up. Why didn't she speak up years ago

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