‘I WAS SWITCHED AT BIRTH'

Two families were torn apart when their newborn babies were switched in hospital 42 years ago

The woman at the centre of an infamous switched-atbirth scandal has spoken out about how the terrible unsolved crime effectively robbed her of two sets of parents and continues to haunt her to this day.

A deathbed confession on top of a multimillion-dollar settlement didn’t bring closure to the families of Kimberly Mays and Arlena Twigg, who were born three days apart at the Hardee Memorial Hospital in rural Wauchula, Florida in 1978.

“It’s been anything but easy,” revealed Kimberly in an interview with US show 20/20, explaining she ultimately became estranged from both sets of parents after the shock discovery came to light in 1988.

This nightmare for the Mays and the Twiggs started after an unidentified person unclipped the name tags wrapped around Kimberly and Arlena’s tiny wrists and swapped them, leaving two mothers to nurse, love and take home a stranger’s child.

Regina and Ernest Twigg’s healthy baby was given to Bob and Barbara Mays, while the Mays’ daughter, who was born with a severe heart condition, was given to the Twiggs – with the mix-up not discovered until Arlena died nine years later.

SINISTER CRIME?

Whether the switch was deliberate or a mistake has never been proven, despite a nurse’s aide Patsy Webb coming forward in November 1993 to claim Dr Ernest Palmer had secretly instructed her to switch the ID bracelets.