French Babies Switched at Birth Take Home $2 Million

Over 20 years ago, two baby girls were inadvertently switched at birth, and spent their first 10 years of life completely unaware of the mishap. Nope — this isn’t about the ABC Family original series — it’s the true story of two French families, who are now taking home a combined $2.1 million in damages.

Sophie Serrano gave birth at a private clinic in Cannes on July 4, 1994. Her baby girl, Manon, suffered from jaundice and was placed in an incubator with a baby girl born the following day. When the mothers reunited with their babies on July 8, they expressed concern, noting that skin tone and hair length seemed different. But the clinic’s staff assured them that any changes in appearance were due to the incubator’s lamp.

Ten years later, the Serrano family was still having doubts. They ordered a DNA test because Manon didn’t look anything like her father. The results? She wasn’t the biological child of either parent.

Eventually, the Serranos tracked down the other family, who haven’t been publicly identified, to meet in person. In December 2014, Manon described the reunion as “pretty strange,” telling  Le Monde that “you find yourself in front of a woman who is biologically your mother but who is a stranger.”

While the families chose not to switch the children back, they did take the clinic to court last year. And yesterday, the court ordered the clinic to pay up. While the settlement is far less than the $13.5 million the families were seeking, the girls will each receive over $450,000, and their parents will receive $340,000. Even their three siblings will benefit, receiving over $70,000 each.

This ordeal has not served as a bonding experience for the two families. Sophie Serrano says they’ve distanced themselves from one another. “It was too difficult, so we each went our separate ways as it’s so distressing,” she says. “It was the only way to find some stability again.”

(via BuzzFeed)