'Devastated' Women Switched At Birth 55 Years Ago Plan To Sue Hospital
Shola Lee
Featured Image Credit: NBC/Today Show
Two women who were switched at birth are now planning to sue the hospital where the incident occurred.
Tina Ennis and Jill Lopez, were both born on May 18, 1964 at the Duncan Physicians and Surgeons Hospital in Oklahoma only to find out in 2019 that they had been switched at birth.
The revelation came to light after Tina took an Ancestry.com DNA test to learn more about her family.
Results from the test produced a list of names that she had never heard of, including those of Joyce and John Brister, who she would later find out were her biological parents.
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Tina's mum, Kathryn Jones, then took the same test, and her results didn't match her daughter's.
It was at that point that the idea of Tina being switched at birth was first suggested.
Wanting to know more about the shocking results, Tina started to look for people who shared her birthday, and it was during her search that she found Jill, who – as it happened – bore an uncanny resemblance to Kathryn.
Jill proceeded to take a DNA test, and, sure enough, it showed that Kathryn was her biological mum.
Speaking about the ordeal, Tina said, 'All I could think about was how I was going to tell my mom. I just thought she’s not going to be able to handle it.'
While Kathryn originally didn't believe what she was being told, she later accepted it, although she said she was 'totally devastated and heartbroken' and that the shocking news had felt like 'somebody took a hatchet' to her heart.
She added, 'I could not lose Tina. She’ll always be my daughter. I have loved her from the second they laid her in my arms.'
The three have since spoken out about their experience, and also announced their intention to sue the hospital responsible.
Speaking of the distress the ordeal had caused their family, the women said in an interview with The Today Show, as per Metro, 'There’s so many people involved, it’s not just me and Jill – it’s two entire families.'
While Kathryn and Jill have been able to spend some time together following the revelation, Tina was unfortunately unable to meet her biological parents as they had died before the discovery was made.
Since the story came to light, the hospital has claimed that it is no longer responsible for the incident as it was merged with another hospital in 1975.
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