Women Reunited 56 Years After Hospital Mix-Up

May 13, 2009 by tanya
Filed under: News

Two woman have been reunited 56 years after they were accidentally switched after they were born.

In 1953, two baby girls were born at Pioneer Memorial Hospital, Eastern Oregon.

Both ladies are now married, with children and grandchildren. Last summer, suspicions were aroused after an 86-year-old woman who knew both mothers voiced her concerns.

Kay Rene Reed Qualls and DeeAnn Angell Shafer underwent DNA tests revealed her suspicions to Bobby Reed, brother of Kay Rene.

The unnamed lady had been the neighbor of the Angell family, and a friend to his mother. He told the local newspaper this week “She said she had something she had to get off her chest,”

The lady recalled that in 1953, Marjorie Angell had been concerned that she had been given the wrong baby after the newborns had been bathed. She had been assured that no mistake had taken place.

Comparing photos of DeeAnn Shafer’s sister as a child, there had been a strong resemblance to Kay Rene as a child.

“Kay Rene is not a Reed,” the woman had told Mr Reed. “DeeAnn is a Reed.”

The brother later realized that there had been rumors of the babies being mixed up for several years.

DNA results now show that there is zero chances that Qualls is related to her brother, compared to Shafer’s DNA having 99.9 percent chances of being related to Mr Reed.

“I cried,” Qualls said. “I wanted to be a Reed — my life wasn’t my life.”

Shafer had not been surprised, as had suspicions raised after meeting Kay Rene’s sister: “I was shocked — she looked just like my sister’s twin.”

Both women are trying to move on with their lives and have formed a close relationship.

“I’m trying to move forward at look at the positive,” Shafer told the newspaper. “You can’t look back. It just drives you crazy.”

The hospital have offered to provide and pay for counseling, which the pair have declined.