We Always Joked Dad Looked Nothing Like His Parents - Then We Found Out Why

Matthew's dada had brownish eyes and achromatic hair. His grandparents had piercing bluish eyes.

There was a moving joke successful his family that "dad looked thing for illustration his parents", nan coach from confederate England says.

It turned retired location was a very bully logic for this.

Matthew's begetter had been swapped astatine commencement successful infirmary astir 80 years ago. He died precocious past twelvemonth earlier learning nan truth of his family history.

Matthew - not his existent sanction - contacted nan BBC aft we reported connected nan lawsuit of Susan, who received compensation from an NHS spot aft a location DNA trial revealed she had been accidentally switched for different babe successful nan 1950s.

BBC News is now alert of 5 cases of babies swapped by correction successful maternity wards from nan precocious 1940s to nan 1960s.

Lawyers opportunity they expect much group to travel guardant driven by nan summation successful inexpensive familial testing.

During nan pandemic, Matthew started looking for answers to niggling questions astir his family history. He sent disconnected a saliva sample successful nan station to beryllium analysed.

The genealogy institution entered his grounds into its immense online database, allowing him to position different users whose DNA intimately matched his own.

"Half of nan names I'd conscionable ne'er heard of," he says. "I thought, 'That's weird', and called my woman to show her nan aged family joke mightiness beryllium existent aft all."

Matthew past asked his dada to taxable his ain DNA sample, which confirmed he was moreover much intimately related to nan aforesaid group of mysterious family members.

Matthew started exchanging messages pinch 2 women who nan tract suggested were his father's cousins. All were confused astir really they could perchance beryllium related.

Working together, they yet tracked down commencement records from 1946, months aft nan extremity of World War Two.

The documents showed that 1 time aft his begetter was apparently born, different babe boy had been registered astatine nan aforesaid infirmary successful eastbound London.

That boy had nan aforesaid comparatively different surname that appeared connected nan enigma branch of nan family tree, a nexus later confirmed by commencement certificates obtained by Matthew.

It was a lightbulb moment.

"I realised consecutive distant what must person happened," he says. "The only mentation that made consciousness was that some babies sewage muddled up successful hospital."

Matthew and nan 2 women managed to conception a marque caller family character based connected each of his DNA matches.

"I emotion a puzzle and I emotion knowing nan past," he says. "I'm rather obsessive anyway, truthful I sewage into trying to reverse technologist what had happened."

Before World War Two, astir babies successful nan UK were calved astatine home, aliases successful nursing homes, attended by midwives and nan family doctor.

That started to alteration arsenic nan state prepared for nan motorboat of nan NHS successful 1948, and very gradually, much babies were delivered successful hospital, wherever newborns were typically removed for periods to beryllium cared for successful nurseries.

"The babe would beryllium taken distant betwixt feeds truthful that nan mother could rest, and nan babe could beryllium watched by either a nursery caregiver aliases midwife," says Terri Coates, a retired teacher successful midwifery, and erstwhile objective advisor connected BBC bid Call The Midwife.

"It whitethorn sound paternalistic, but midwives believed they were looking aft mums and babies incredibly well."

It was communal for caller mothers to beryllium kept successful infirmary for betwixt 5 and 7 days, acold longer than today.

To place newborns successful nan nursery, a paper would beryllium tied to nan extremity of nan cot pinch nan baby's name, mother's name, nan day and clip of birth, and nan baby's weight.

"Where cots alternatively than babies were labelled, accidents could easy happen", says Ms Coates, who trained arsenic a caregiver herself successful nan 1970s and a nurse successful 1981.

"If location were 2 aliases much members of unit successful nan nursery feeding babies, for example, a babe could easy beryllium put down successful nan incorrect cot."

By 1956, infirmary births were becoming much common, and midwifery textbooks were recommending that a "wrist name-tape" aliases "string of lettered china beads" should beryllium attached straight to nan newborn.

A decade later, by nan mid-1960s, it was uncommon for babies to beryllium removed from nan transportation room without being individually labelled.

Stories of babies being accidentally switched successful infirmary were very uncommon astatine nan time, though more are now coming to ray acknowledgment to nan roar successful familial testing and ancestry websites.

The time aft Jan Daly was calved astatine a infirmary successful northbound London successful 1951, her mother instantly complained that nan babe she had been fixed was not hers.

"She was really stressed and crying, but nan nurses assured her she was incorrect and nan expert was called successful to effort to calm her," Jan says.

The unit only backed down erstwhile her mum told them she'd had a fast, unassisted delivery, and pointed retired nan clear forceps marks connected nan baby's head

"I consciousness for nan different mother who had been happily feeding maine for 2 days and past had to springiness up 1 babe for another," she says.

"There was ne'er immoderate apology, it was conscionable 'one of those silly errors', but nan trauma affected my mother for a agelong time."

Matthew's father, an security supplier from nan Home Counties, was a keen amateur cyclist who spent his life pursuing nan section racing scene.

He lived unsocial successful status and complete nan past decade his wellness had been deteriorating.

Matthew thought agelong and difficult astir telling him nan truth astir his family history but, successful nan end, decided against it.

"I conscionable felt my dada doesn't request this," he says. "He had lived 78 years successful a type of ignorance, truthful it didn't consciousness correct to stock it pinch him."

Matthew's begetter died past twelvemonth without ever knowing he'd been celebrating his day a time early for nan past 8 decades.

Since then, Matthew has driven to nan West Country to meet his dad's familial first relative and her girl for coffee.

They each sewage connected well, he says, sharing aged photos and "filling successful missing bits of family history".

But Matthew has decided not to interaction nan man his begetter must person been swapped pinch arsenic a baby, aliases his children – successful portion because they person not taken DNA tests themselves.

"If you do a trial by sending your saliva off, past there's an implicit knowing that you mightiness find thing that's a spot of a surprise," Matthew says.

"Whereas pinch group who haven't, I'm still not judge if it's nan correct point to scope retired to them - I conscionable don't deliberation it's correct to driblet that bombshell."