Moms Discover Their Daughters Were Swapped at Birth 38 Years Ago

Two Russian families received the shock of their lives when, after 38 years, they discovered their daughters had been accidentally switched at birth.

On July 29, 1982, at the Kizil maternity hospital in Russia, moms Vasilya Baimurzina and Valentina Baulina both delivered baby girls, a dark-haired one and a fair-haired one, respectively.

The fair-haired baby, named Gulsina, who had blue eyes and pale skin was handed over to Baimurzina, who herself has dark color hair, while the dark-haired baby girl, named Alyona, who had brown eyes was given to Baulina, who has light-colored hair, reported 7 News Australia.

It is not yet known where and when the newborn's name tags were accidentally exchanged. Both the mothers had the same first and last initials —V and B.

Though the discovery came many years later, both Baimurzina and Baulina shared suspicions for many years, as their daughters were significantly different in appearance from themselves.

Rumors swirled around the villages the two lived in for years until finally, Gulsina's elder sister Gulnas contacted Alyona last year. She told the other woman that she believed the two were biological sisters, prompting the families to go for a DNA test.

"Gulsina was fair from birth, and I am dark," Gulnas told Russian News Outlet 74.RU.

"We saw that she was not like us, but did not attach any importance to it. Because dad also had a fair child from his first marriage," she added. "And my mother had sisters with white hair in her family. But rumors were creeping that a fair one was growing here, and a dark one in another village."

The test revealed that the two mothers were, in fact, raising each other's daughters.

After discovering the error, the women demanded a hearing, the first of which took place on April 27 of this year. However, the pair are also asking for a compensation of 10 million Russian Rouble each, which is approximately USD $1330,00, from the Ministry of Finance.

Before their first hearing, the Kizil maternity hospital manager Alla Vasilyeva officially apologized to the women. She noted, as per 7 News Australia, "that the members of staff involved at the time were no longer alive," meaning there may never be answers as to how exactly the mistake happened.

Vasilyeva said, "she was not sure how the babies' name tags could have come off and been reattached incorrectly," reported 7 News Australia.