Before I answer the question: the whole twins meeting in a clothing store sounds EXACTLY like the pilot episode of Sister, Sister and for that reason alone, I laughed.

I actually do think they have a legal case. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

hermana, hermana

Thanks for the quick Spanish lesson yestyear

I meant Hermana, Hermana

I don't think it's necessarily a life wrecker, but I think they have a case. The girls were denied the lives they were born to live whether things have gone well or not. Supposing one of the girls living with the wrong family had an inherited health problem or needed a kidney transplant - heck of a time to discover you're not who you think you are.

i think if they are both healthy and happy now and each had a good childhood this is somewhat of a frivolous case. they should be thankful that they found each other and enjoy the rest of their lives as sisters. the one thing no one's mentioning - what about the OTHER woman who grew up thinking she was a twin and it turns out she's not? she must feel pretty left out right now.

The relationship between twin sisters is beyond valuable. :)

I think they have every right to sue the hospital that made the mistake. They missed out on soooooooo much during those years. It is irreplacable, and it happened because of carelessness.

yesteryear, Not-twin is suing too!!!

It's a family affair.

Well that's it, two of them aren't who they thought they were - a pretty big shock for two families. If they turned out happy that's great, but that's a big If. It needs to be clear to hospitals it's not a small mistake.

I think the parents would also be pretty upset!

I have to wonder if it will hold up, though. Because then couldn't adopted children sue birth parents for violating their right to family identity?

I think its a tight legal squeeze: in the case of adoption, the parent has legal control over the child's life at the time they decide to put them up for adoption. I know adopted families don't always tell the child they're adopted, but they have that option. And at adulthood, the child has the right to look for their natural parents which a child who was switched wouldn't have unless the mistake is discovered.

Well, I think with that in mind, it would be up to the parents to sue, not the children, since they are the ones who would decide where the infant was raised (either with the birth parents, or with adoptive parents.) Because a child doesn't get to choose when it is born if it is adopted or raised with birth parents. It's not their right to have birth parents and a family identity. But the parents have a right then to raise their children or to choose not to raise them.

It was the parents who were initially damaged, deprived of their child... It's happened before (though I'm not sure with twins) so I'm sure someone has figured out how everyone gets heard.

Jillness, your twin smileys are so cute.

I wonder how the mix-up happened. Was it on purpose and malicious, or was it just an accident?

No matter what, I do think that the children have the right to sue. If the parents choose to raise a child with their family, but a hospital's negligence interfered with that, then the children are the ones who missed out.

I thought they were cute too, juju!

I think that the hospital clearly made a huge error. In other cases in the US where a child was switched with another, I believe they usually penalize the hospital and give damages to the family. In this case, since the "children" are now adults it would make sense that it would go to them.

I guess I don't have a problem with them suing because of the mistake, but I don't like the lawyer's claim that "The first right of any child is the right to their own personal and family identity." It just doesn't sit right with me. If that were true, adopted children could sue their birth parents for violating their right to family identity.

I agree that statement doesn't really have any basis for legal claims (in the US), but I think that their situation does warrant a suit. They should hire a new lawyer, though!

Wow, what a crazy story. Suing for millions though? That seems extreme.

Okay who wants to be my long lost twin?

I think the other girl who was raised as a twin has an interesting story as well. She has a completely different set of birth parents and siblings as well, or she is an only child, or maybe she is still a twin with a different sibling. It would have been interesting to know a little more of the story.

this case is so sad. twins have a special bond and knowing that you missed all those years with your other half must be awful. i don't think it's as simple as saying "well here you are now and everyone had a nice life". if you took the wrong baby home and found out later would you feel the same? it seems obvious that the hospital has a minimum level of responsibility that includes giving parents the right baby. to suggest otherwise is like saying "oh well this-baby-that-baby. tomato-to-mot-o. same differance".

I tend to agree with yesteryear here. What I find really odd is that they are suing the government.

Socorro Perdomo said in an interview that his client is seeking $4.7 million from the government of the Canary Islands, where the error occurred in 1973 in the city of Las Palmas.

I don't know what Spain's healthcare system is like. Maybe the hospital is government run...? Otherwise, that makes no sense to me.

It is like a Lifetime movie in real life!

So one twin who is suing, what about the other twin on the other side? Am I missing something? Shouldn't there be two sets of screwed up twins?

Woah, that would be SO weird!

i'm going to sue the hospital where i was born for NOT switching me with a rich baby with parents who would have paid for her to go to college, set her up with a nice house somewhere pretty, and supported her for the rest of her life. it's not fair!!! waaaah.

the two girls on the stock photo above look exactly like me when I was their age. Weird, maybe they are my long lost twins.

the two girls on the stock photo above look exactly like me when I was their age. Weird, maybe they are my long lost twins.

Wow. Crazy story! Makes you wonder how many other babies have been switched! I can totally see why they are going for legal action!

Cine, from the way I understand it... it goes like this:

Baby A & Baby B were twins born together to one set of parents.

Baby C was born at same time to different parents.

Baby B & Baby C were switched making the twin's parents go home with one biological child (Baby A) and one non-biological child (Baby C).

And then C's parents went home with Baby B (non-biological)

lol does that make sense?

but on the topic... yes, I think they all have a right to sue.

My google alert went off (an absolutely meaningless phrase just a few years ago) and I landed here. I'm fascinated by this topic as reflected in my "switched at birth" google alert, on which this article about the Spanish twin and non-twin who were switched popped up.

Mostly I just want to pierce the legal veil (omg - you ladies sounded like a roomful of ambulance chasers!) and personalize the conversation. What kind of world would create such a bizarre twist for three innocent newborns? How does one measure damage done in such a circumstance compared to other forms of medical malpractice? And what would be the emotional and psychological impact of discovering that your most basic relationship - the one with your mother - was false, based on a stupid screw-up?

On the up side, how many people get to have a second identity crisis of this nature? I'd be interested in hearing your responses. I didn't mean any offense by the ambulance chasers comment, but humor doesn't always work online. Or offline, for that matter. Peace.

No you're right, we sound like ambulance chasers. Why the personal interest in this subject, if you don't mind my asking.

I do think that being separated at birth would be a life-ruining event. I mean, there are so many things that we don't know. What if one of them grew up in a poor family and because of that their health is not as good as it could be, missed educational opportunities, missed financial opportunities, etc. Yes, it was a mistake but not all mistakes can be solved by saying sorry.

I am interested in the subject because I was switched at birth myself, a secret I discovered five years ago. That has kind of pushed my interest level, um, off the chart.

My earlier post, now that I read it again, was not real clear, but that is what I was trying to say. I have an unpublished memoir inspired by that life-transforming event. I'd be happy to share some of it with anybody interested.

Jennifer: Yes, health care is state run, like in France or Britain.

Alinvenice: I'm sorry that happened to you. It must be very distressing.

One of the Spanish twins (I believe she's the one who was raised as a single child) got into a deep depression when she found out and it took her two or three years to accept to do the DNA test. It was also reported that her legal mother had stopped speaking to her. Of course, we can't know how they got along before but this situation must have been horrible to her.

Calimie: Distressing? Hmm. Finding out about my birth story for me was, among other things, enlightening. The range of emotions and adjustments and how they affected my life is beyond the scope of this forum. I'm glad that I found out about what happened - it has made my life better. I realize, though, that not all people who discover traumatic news about their births feel the same.

we think they do have on and its a life wrecker to just met after there childhood seriously