Families who had babies switched at birth in 1967 in line for NHS compensation

Families did not discover ‘appalling error’ until brother’s DNA test 55 years later revealed mystery sibling

West Midlands Hospital switched two babies at birth in 1967 (PA Archive)

Families of two babies reportedly switched at birth in an NHS hospital in 1967 are now in line for compensation in the first case of its kind.

The baby girls, now grown women named in reports only as Claire and Jessica, were switched at an NHS West Midlands hospital shortly after birth but their families only discovered the mistake 55 years later, according to the BBC.

The truth was discovered only after the brother of one of the women, took a DNA test in 2021, which listed another woman as his full sibling.

He contacted the woman and it was quickly realised she had been another baby girl born at the same hospital around the same time.

It is extremely rare for incidents of babies being switched at birth to occur. A freedom of information request in 2017 revealed there had been no recorded cases of babies being sent home with the wrong family.

According to the BBC since the 1980s, newborns have been given radio frequency identification (RFID) tags immediately after their birth, which allow their location to be tracked.

In 1967, the mother of one of the women, named only as Joan, was admitted to West Midlands Hospital due to highblood pressure and was induced. Her daughter was born later that evening and taken away to a nursery so Joan could rest.

Just after midnight, another baby girl was born and the next morning Joan was handed a baby that was not her biological child.

More than five decades later the pair have been reunited. On meeting her daughter Joan said, “It just felt right”

“I thought, she looked just like I did in my younger days,” she added.

The woman who is Joan’s biolocal daughter, called Claire in reports, said she felt she never belonged in her own family.

“I felt like an imposter...There were no similarities, in looks or traits.I thought, ‘yes – I’m adopted.’” she said.

According to the BBC, Joan’s estranged daugher now calls her “mum”, but the daughter who grew up with her no longer does.

“It doesn’t make any difference to me that Jessica isn’t my biological daughter,” she said. “She’s still my daughter and she always will be.”

The NHS trust that oversees the hospital has admitted liability but the level of compensation is yet to be agreed.

NHS Resolution, which deals with complaints against the NHS, told the BBC the switch was an “appalling error” and that it had accepted legal liability.

It told the BBC that it was a “unique and complex case” and that it was still working to agree on the amount of compensation that was due.