DistantNews
Support us
🇺🇸 United States /Health & Science

2 families sue hospital after Colorado man claims he was switched at birth

From CBS News · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • Two families are suing a hospital in North Dakota after a Colorado man discovered he may have been switched at birth 36 years ago.
  • Jeremy Morrison learned through a DNA test that his parents were not his biological parents and that another man, Kyle Bylin, matched his aunt as a nephew.
  • The hospital, Unity Medical Center, denies responsibility, citing the passage of time and loss of records.

Two families have filed lawsuits against a North Dakota hospital, alleging that two male infants were switched at birth 36 years ago. The legal action stems from a discovery made by Colorado resident Jeremy Morrison.

I didn't have anyone that looked like me in my family. I was that blonde-haired kid that stood out in a family full of brown-haired people.

— Jeremy MorrisonMorrison describing his lifelong feeling of not belonging with his family before the DNA test.

Morrison, who always felt different from his family, took a DNA test two years ago. The results revealed that his parents were not his biological parents. Further testing indicated that Kyle Bylin, another man, was his aunt's nephew, a relationship Morrison lacks with his own family. Morrison believes he and Bylin were the only babies born at Grafton, North Dakota's hospital on January 26, 1988, making a mix-up highly probable.

I know I definitely wouldn't be here in Colorado today if I went home with the right parents. I would have been working the farm with my older brother that I never knew I had.

— Jeremy MorrisonMorrison reflecting on how his life might have been different if he had been raised by his biological parents.

Morrison and Bylin, along with their parents, are suing Unity Medical Center. The hospital has denied the allegations. In a statement, Unity Medical Center acknowledged the unusual situation but stated that due to the nearly four-decade passage of time, crucial medical and staffing records are no longer available. The hospital also noted that no staff from the delivery team at that time remain employed there. Unity Medical Center expressed sympathy but asserted that it has found no evidence to support claims of responsibility for the alleged switch.

Me and Kyle didn't grow up in the same area; we couldn't have gotten switched at daycare or anything like that.

— Jeremy MorrisonMorrison explaining why he believes the switch must have occurred at the hospital.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by CBS News. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog