Two men from the United States, who believe that they were switched at the time of birth in the hospital 8-years ago are pressing charges against a Roman Catholic diocese in West Virginia. They are suing with allegations of negligence and breach of duty by the hospital when they were born.
John William Carr III and Jackie Lee Spencer were both born on August 29, 1942at St. Joseph Hospital in Buckhannon. The lawsuit has been filed on Friday at the Monongalia County Circuit Court against the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston press charged against them claiming that they were sent home with wrong families.
The individuals were assured of the switch because of a DNA test that they conducted finding that they didn’t have any genetic match with the families they were raised in. But, they matched perfectly with the other’s family.
Both Carr, Spencer and their families have had to experience a lifetime of consequences because of the small mistake that the hospital committed. According to the lawsuit, they are seeking unspecified damages.
The diocese is yet to comment on the pending allegations.
Spencer reported in the lawsuit that he had been on the lookout for the man listen on his birth certificate as his father for the last 50 years. He was told that the man abandoned his mother during birth.
Following finding his father’s relatives, Spencer conducted a DNA test to check whether he was related or not. But, when the results came back, he was shocked to find that he didn’t match to any of the people that he thought was his birth family.
But, later, in the tests matching to Carr’s family, he found them to be a complete match, leaving them both shocked and stunned at the revelations.
When he dig in a little deeper, Spencer found that he and Carr were born on the same day in the same hospital, which raised suspicion.
Both Spencer and his wife contacted Carr to take DNA tests to check whether he matches with his alleged relatives and turns out, he was a perfect match.
Spencer mentioned in the lawsuit that he missed out knowing his blood family because of the mistake by the hospital.
“He feels as though most of his family died all at once. He grieves for the loss of the life he was supposed to have, while reconciling those feeling with the love and gratitude he feels for the family he has known his whole life,” said the lawsuit.
Carr, who has been born with blue eyes, always said that he never blended in with the family that he has grown up with, always feeling out of place.
“Well, I never felt like I fit in here because my mother and dad had brown hair and brown eyes, and so do my brother and sister,” said Carr in a statement.
