More than 20 years ago, two baby girls were switched at birth. Today, the families were awarded a massive compensation payout.
Two French families whose girls were switched at birth have won $2.7 million in compensation.
More than 2o years ago, a clinic in Cannes, France placed two babies in the same incubator and accidentally returned them to the wrong families.
Related: The families of two girls switched at birth are suing for millions.
Today, the court ordered the clinic to pay 1.88 million euros for their life-changing error. The clinic will pay the equivalent of $581,000 to each of the switched girls, along with $436,000 to the three parents concerned and $87,000 to three siblings.
Speaking on French television, a lawyer for one of the families said they were “completely satisfied with the decision” and “relieved that the court had recognised the clinic was responsible”.
The two girls were switched in July 1994, after they were placed in the same incubator after their birth.
When the girls were returned to the wrong parents, both mothers expressed concern that the babies looked different and were not their respective children, but were sent home anyway.
Ten years later, the father of one of the girls, Manon Serrano, ordered a paternity test, as the child did not resemble him. The results came back negative, prompting the family to probe the case.
Read more: Switched at birth. Now the families are suing for millions.
After discovering the girls had been switched at birth, the two families met but did not ask for their daughters to be switched back.
The families sued for more than $15 million, and today, received their compensation.