Their Babies Were Swapped 20 Years Ago; Will They Switch Their Daughters Back?

Two baby girls were switched at birth 20 years ago at a clinic in Cannes, France.

In 1994, Sophie Serrano and another unnamed mother gave birth to daughters at a maternity clinic in the French Riviera resort. Her one day old child, Manon, was diagnosed with jaundice so she was placed in an incubator next to little Melanie.

However, both babies were returned to the wrong mothers who were staying in adjacent private rooms.

Sophie noticed her daughter looked a little darker to which she was told it was because of incubator lamps.

Growing up, Manon was laughed at for not looking like her parents. Ten years later, her father did a paternity test and found out he was not the girl’s biological father. Sophie also discovered she wasn’t her mother either!

This led the parents to investigate and find the other family who had their real daughter. All traces led to the maternity clinic Sophie gave birth at 2 decades ago.

According to the clinic, they only had two incubators with the special lights and three newborns that time suffered from jaundice – 2 girls and 1 boy.  The girls were placed together in one incubator, explains the obstetrician’s lawyer.

Two obstetricians, two pediatricians, the clinic and an auxiliary nurse are also being sued for what happened.

For the first time in 10 years, the two set of parents met their biological daughters, but did not ask they be switched back.

According to Manon it was a “pretty disturbing moment, very bizarre,” adding that “you find yourself in front of a woman who is biologically your mother but who is a stranger.”

Since then, the two families decided to distance themselves from each other explaining that the situation was so distressing.

Ten years on, both families are suing the clinic of more than £10 million.

The court will rule on the case on the 10th of February.

Sophie said, “If it happened to us, it may have happened to others. There should be exemplary sentences…. we really hope to get this recognition, so as to free us from all this guilt about not having been able to protect your kid, not having insisted when we saw there was a problem.”