Two Austrian women, who were accidentally swapped at birth in the hospital in Graz in October 1990 have finally met each other for the first time after 35 years.
Doris Grünwald and Jessica Baumgartner were both born premature and were accidentally swapped at the hospital and each baby was taken home by the other parents.
As per BBC, in 2012, Doris discovered she was not her parents’ biological child when she donated blood and noticed that her blood type did not match her mother’s.
"Austrian public broadcaster ORF reported on the case in 2016 but back then the other family could not be found," reported BBC.
While, Jessica was raised nearby by Herbert and Monika Derler.
She learned that her blood type didn’t match her parents’ when she became pregnant and a doctor told her she had been switched at birth.
Later, Jessica contacted Doris through Facebook and the two women eventually met in person.
Doris described meeting Jessica as an amazing feeling, saying it was like meeting a sister.
The operations manager at the LKH-Uniklinikum in Graz, Gebhard Falzberger, was quoted by the broadcaster as saying: "We deeply regret that this mistake was made at the time."
He apologised to both families on behalf of the hospital.
In 2016, the Grünwalds were advised to legally adopt Doris to secure her inheritance rights and they received compensation from the hospital.
The Derler family is now also pursuing adoption and seeking compensation.
