Kyle Bylin still has the hospital bracelet that misidentifies him as Jeremy Morrison. For 38 years, it was just a keepsake. Then a chance DNA test from a Christmas gift swap revealed the truth: he and Jeremy Morrison were switched at birth at Unity Medical Center in Grafton, North Dakota.
The two were the only babies born there on January 26, 1988. But somehow each went home with the wrong parents. Decades later, Kyle took an at-home DNA test that led him to his biological aunt on a genealogy platform. When her nephew, Jeremy, then had his DNA tested, the switch was confirmed.
“Two men discover they were switched at birth 38 years ago after a chance DNA test.”
“That’s when my mind was just completely blown,” Kyle said. “We could have never imagined that it was an actual birth switch that occurred.” Jeremy said he was convinced as soon as he saw a photo of Kyle’s brother and spotted the close similarities in their looks.
Now the two are suing Unity Medical, saying they have been robbed of the lives they were supposed to lead. Evelyn Newton, who raised Kyle as her own, told The Associated Press: “Kyle is still my son — that is never going to change. 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?”
The hospital does not dispute the babies were switched. “We recognize the profound impact this discovery has had on them and their families,” Unity Medical said in a statement. “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.”
Jeremy, who now works as a welding inspector in Colorado City, Colorado, said the knowledge hasn’t changed how he feels about the family he grew up with. He still thinks of Elizabeth O’Toole and Terry Morrison as his parents. “I was loved,” he said. “A DNA test is not going to take away 38 years of memories.”
But the switch reshaped his imagined future. Had he not been switched, he figures he’d be with his biological brother and father, working on the North Dakota grain farm where Kyle grew up. Ms Newton said she never suspected Kyle wasn’t her biological son, despite his dark hair differing from the family’s light hair – her husband had dark-haired relatives, and she was adopted herself, so she didn’t know what her own blood relatives looked like.