A court in Grasse, France ordered a clinic to pay around $2.1 million to two families after two babies were switched at birth by an 'alcoholic' nurse 20 years ago.
The clinic in Cannes should pay 400,000 euros or about $450,000 to each of the two 20-year old girls which is a part of a 1.88 million-euro settlement with both families.
Apparently, about 20 years ago, the two babies suffered from jaundice making their skin look yellowish. They were needed to be in an incubator where they shared when they were born. However, the nurse accidentally gave the babies to wrong mothers.
Aside from that, additional payments were sought. Clinica Jourdan and an insurance company were ordered to pay $340,000 to each of the three parents and around $68,000 each for the three brothers and sisters involved.
Three years after giving birth, Sophie Serrano, a mother of one of the girls, faced marital problems after rumors had spread that her partner is not the father of the baby. Manon Serrrano, the then three-year old toddler had curly hair and olive-toned skin. She looked very different from her mother or even Sophie's partner.
Ten years ago, a paternal DNA test was launched and it appeared that Manon was not the daughter of either one of them. When they investigated the case, it turned out that her biological child is living 30 kilometers away from her.
The family of the other girl opted to remain anonymous. The girls stayed with their non-biological parents. Sophie Serrano said told Mail Online, "I don't see my biological daughter anymore."
With the two families merging to make the clinic pay for what they have done, they demanded payment from the maternity clinic, the doctors and the auxiliary nurse who was rumored to be an 'alcoholic'.
The clinic admitted that they have fault in the incident but they blamed most of it to their trainee nurse who was on duty the day the girls got switched.
Though the sum of money ordered by the court is way lower than expected, the families' lawyer said that they have no plans to appeal but admitted that they were relieved on the decision of the court to put the clinic at fault. They did not only take away the chance for the girls to spend their lives with their real family, they also caused moral and psychological damage to the two families.
Manon Serrano said in a statement, "They [the clinic] took my innocence away. They took away my dreams, my hopes, my desire to have children."
