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A DNA discovery has led two families to accuse a North Dakota hospital of changing the course of their lives after learning two newborns were allegedly switched at birth nearly four decades ago.
Kyle Bylin uncovered the truth after receiving an at-home DNA test during a Christmas gift exchange. The test connected him with his biological aunt through a genealogy platform, prompting her nephew, Jeremy Morrison, to take his own DNA test. The results confirmed the two men had been raised by each other’s biological families.
According to a complaint filed against Unity medical center in North Dakota, Jeremy Morrison and Kyle Bylin were the only babies born at the hospital just hours apart on 28 January 1988.
The lawsuit alleges that, without their parents’ knowledge, the newborns were switched before they left the hospital, with each child being raised by the other’s biological parents. The complaint also names both men’s parents as plaintiffs.
“The employees and/or agents of Unity Medical Center who switched the newborns and then failed to recognize or correct the error were acting within the scope of their employment and/or agency,” the complaint says, according to People.
Unity medical center has reportedly denied responsibility, saying there is no evidence hospital staff caused the switch. However, the hospital doesn’t dispute that the babies were switched at some point.
“We recognize the profound impact this discovery has had on them and their families,” Unity medical said in a statement to ABC News. “Unfortunately, because of the passage of nearly four decades, the medical and staffing records that might have provided additional clarity no longer exist, and no members of the delivery team from that time are still employed by the hospital.”
Bylin, who was born Jeremy Morrison, says he still has the hospital bracelet that incorrectly identified him as Kyle Bylin.
“Kyle is still my son – that is never going to change,” Evelyn Newton, who raised him as her own, told the Associated Press. “But I feel robbed of the life I should have had with my biological son. You can’t go back and replace 35 years. First steps, driving a car, getting married – how do you make up for that?”
Since learning the truth, Bylin and Morrison have each met their biological parents. They described those reunions to ABC News as “welcoming but awkward”. While the two men have spoken by phone, they have not yet met in person.
“We’ve tried to unite as a group and just recognize that no matter what, there’s different ways that this can be socially messy,” Bylin told ABC. “Everyone’s getting to know people that they didn’t know before.”
Though cases of babies being switched at birth are relatively rare, they happen more than most people might expect. According to the DNA Diagnostics Center, up to 18 babies a year may actually go home with families that aren’t their own, although the baby switch is generally caught almost immediately after it happens.
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