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Two families sue one North Dakota Hospitalalleging that hospital staff mistakenly switched two little boys at birth more than 36 years ago.
According to KVLY, Kyle Bylin and Jeremy Morrison were the only two babies born on January 26, 1988 at Unity Medical Center in Grafton, North Dakota, the men and their families said in the lawsuit. Christian Unity Hospital Corporation, which does business as Unity Medical Center, was named as the defendant.
The plaintiffs claim hospital staff switched the infants and sent them home to the other child’s biological parents, the outlet reported. The two men were then allegedly raised by each other’s biological families without anyone’s knowledge.
The lawsuit says the switch was not discovered for more than 36 years.
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Kyle Bylin and Jeremy Morrison were the only two babies born on Jan. 26, 1988, at Unity Medical Center in Grafton, North Dakota, the lawsuit says. (Google Maps)
Two years ago, Morrison, who now lives in ColoradoHe took a DNA test and learned that the parents who raised him were not his biological parents. Morrison told KKTV that his aunt provided DNA and matched Bylin as her nephew. Morrison said he has no cousins.
Morrison told the outlet that he always felt different from the family he grew up in.
“There was no one in my family who looked like me,” Morrison said. “I was that blonde boy who stood out in a family full of brown-haired people.”
“I know that if I came home with the right parents, I definitely wouldn’t be here in Colorado today,” he said. “I would have worked on the farm with my older brother, who I never knew I had.”
According to KKTV, both sets of parents have met their biological sons, but the two men have not met.
DNA from a soda bottle reportedly links a Massachusetts woman to the 1985 murder of “Baby Boy Doe.”
The lawsuit says the switch was not discovered for more than 36 years. (Google Maps)
Unity Medical Center denied the allegations and asked the court to dismiss the case without prejudice.
According to KVLY, the hospital’s lawyers argued that its employees “possessed and exercised the appropriate level of skill and scholarship” and “exercised reasonable care, judgment and diligence at all times.”
The hospital also claims that the lawsuit may be barred by the statute of limitations, citing “the amount of time that has elapsed between the alleged incident and the service of this lawsuit.”
The plaintiffs are seeking more than $50,000 in damages and have requested a jury trial.
The hospital also raised comparative fault as a defense, arguing that any damages were attributable to parties other than the hospital.
The hospital has also requested a jury trial.
Unity Medical Center denied the allegations. (Getty Images)
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Unity Medical Center said in a statement to KKTV that it is “currently working to better understand a highly unusual situation involving two men who appear to have been separated from their biological parents at some point during their lives,” adding, “Both men were born on the same day at our hospital in 1988, and we recognize the profound impact of this discovery on them and their families.”
“Regrettably, the medical and personnel records that would have provided additional clarity are no longer available after nearly four decades, and no member of the maternity team from that period is still employed at the hospital,” the statement continued. “While we have deep sympathy for the men and their families, we have found no evidence to support the claim that Unity Medical Center or its employees were responsible for the incident.”
