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| A life-changing mistake | A life-changing mistake |
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| Two French families whose babies were swapped at birth 20 years ago recently won more than two million euros in compensation. The episode had echoes of an extraordinary British case from eight decades ago. | Two French families whose babies were swapped at birth 20 years ago recently won more than two million euros in compensation. The episode had echoes of an extraordinary British case from eight decades ago. |
| "Peggy often says that I lived her life and she lived mine," says Valerie Rylatt. For their first 20 years, they did. | "Peggy often says that I lived her life and she lived mine," says Valerie Rylatt. For their first 20 years, they did. |
| In 1936 an administrative mix-up at a Nottingham hospital, blamed on a change of shifts by nurses, meant two baby girls went home with the wrong parents. | In 1936 an administrative mix-up at a Nottingham hospital, blamed on a change of shifts by nurses, meant two baby girls went home with the wrong parents. |
| From the start, Margaret Wheeler had suspicions that Valerie, the "daughter" she had taken home, was not hers. She looked smaller than the baby she recalled giving birth to. | From the start, Margaret Wheeler had suspicions that Valerie, the "daughter" she had taken home, was not hers. She looked smaller than the baby she recalled giving birth to. |
| "I was a premature baby," Valerie, now 78, told BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine Show. "I think I was four or five weeks premature... but she knew that she'd given birth to a full-term baby. And this was her second baby and she recognised the signs and she knew straight away. I wouldn't suckle properly. My nails weren't formed properly and I'd got this down on my ears." | "I was a premature baby," Valerie, now 78, told BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine Show. "I think I was four or five weeks premature... but she knew that she'd given birth to a full-term baby. And this was her second baby and she recognised the signs and she knew straight away. I wouldn't suckle properly. My nails weren't formed properly and I'd got this down on my ears." |
| So Margaret, trusting her mother's instinct, despite doctors saying she was wrong, tried her best to stay in touch with Peggy, who was being brought up by the Rylatt family. She visited her from time to time, despite the obvious displeasure of Fred Rylatt, Peggy's ostensible father. | |
| Each visit made Margaret more convinced she was Peggy's real mother, leading her on one occasion to describe Valerie as seeming like a "usurper" when she "scowled" at her with a face like Fred's after returning home one day. | Each visit made Margaret more convinced she was Peggy's real mother, leading her on one occasion to describe Valerie as seeming like a "usurper" when she "scowled" at her with a face like Fred's after returning home one day. |
| "I feel very, very upset, actually, to hear that I was regarded as a usurper," says Valerie, "but she said it was only at that moment." | "I feel very, very upset, actually, to hear that I was regarded as a usurper," says Valerie, "but she said it was only at that moment." |
| Fred Rylatt wouldn't believe Peggy was not his own daughter, not wanting to upset her or his wife Blanche. He refused to allow her to take part in a blood test at the age of six or seven, when Margaret requested she do so. | Fred Rylatt wouldn't believe Peggy was not his own daughter, not wanting to upset her or his wife Blanche. He refused to allow her to take part in a blood test at the age of six or seven, when Margaret requested she do so. |
| The doctor who had delivered Peggy, perhaps wanting to protect his professional reputation, told Fred there hadn't been a mistake. | |
| Valerie had her own suspicions that things were amiss but Margaret, despite her own feelings, tried to assuage her. "I was a cuckoo and I was aware of this and I said, 'Why don't I look like the others, like my brothers and sisters?' My mother said, 'Oh, well, you look like Auntie Cissy,' Dad Wheeler's sister. Because I had a long face, a long nose. We all had blue eyes and blond hair, but the others were round-faced, with stubby noses and dimples and things. I just noticed that we weren't the same." | |
| As the girls grew up, both families had increasing doubts, but continued with life, each providing a loving home for the girls. They also maintained contact, somewhat confusing the situation. | As the girls grew up, both families had increasing doubts, but continued with life, each providing a loving home for the girls. They also maintained contact, somewhat confusing the situation. |
| Margaret, the woman Valerie thought of as "mum", went about once a year to see Peggy. Valerie doesn't remember the same level of contact with the Rylatts, but there was some. | Margaret, the woman Valerie thought of as "mum", went about once a year to see Peggy. Valerie doesn't remember the same level of contact with the Rylatts, but there was some. |
| "They didn't believe it [that there'd been a mix-up], so I suppose I didn't feel welcome. But I did stay there for four or five days when I was eight, and I can remember walking around Peggy's bedroom. She was at school and I remember touching things and not feeling bad about it. I felt as though I had a right to do this and as though it was mine." | "They didn't believe it [that there'd been a mix-up], so I suppose I didn't feel welcome. But I did stay there for four or five days when I was eight, and I can remember walking around Peggy's bedroom. She was at school and I remember touching things and not feeling bad about it. I felt as though I had a right to do this and as though it was mine." |
| When Peggy was 20 and about to be married, Margaret could no longer hold back. She told her she was her biological daughter, a fact by now recognised, if not mentioned, by both sets of parents. | When Peggy was 20 and about to be married, Margaret could no longer hold back. She told her she was her biological daughter, a fact by now recognised, if not mentioned, by both sets of parents. |
| The information was out, but it was several months before Valerie visited Fred and Blanche, her biological parents. "At the time it was very traumatic because I would wake up at night with a black void and think 'You're not Valerie Wheeler; you're Valerie Rylatt. And I would think, 'No you're not, because Peggy's Peggy, so who am I?' It was a complete feeling of just not belonging anywhere. After I did meet my own parents, the bonding was amazing, just absolutely amazing." | The information was out, but it was several months before Valerie visited Fred and Blanche, her biological parents. "At the time it was very traumatic because I would wake up at night with a black void and think 'You're not Valerie Wheeler; you're Valerie Rylatt. And I would think, 'No you're not, because Peggy's Peggy, so who am I?' It was a complete feeling of just not belonging anywhere. After I did meet my own parents, the bonding was amazing, just absolutely amazing." |
| Once they met up, Fred and Blanche accepted and cherished Valerie as their daughter, just as Margaret and her husband Charles did Peggy. They also continued to do the same for the children wrongly sent home with them from the hospital 20 years earlier. | Once they met up, Fred and Blanche accepted and cherished Valerie as their daughter, just as Margaret and her husband Charles did Peggy. They also continued to do the same for the children wrongly sent home with them from the hospital 20 years earlier. |
| Fred Rylatt had to confront the fact he had effectively rejected Valerie, his own daughter, albeit on the advice of a doctor. "He was very sorry about it all," she says. "I could understand it all. He was very proud of me and I was very fond of him." | Fred Rylatt had to confront the fact he had effectively rejected Valerie, his own daughter, albeit on the advice of a doctor. "He was very sorry about it all," she says. "I could understand it all. He was very proud of me and I was very fond of him." |
| When Valerie was at teacher-training college she was asked an exam question: "What plays a bigger part in life - nature or nurture?" | When Valerie was at teacher-training college she was asked an exam question: "What plays a bigger part in life - nature or nurture?" |
| "I had a field day," she recalls. "I wrote the whole story, but I didn't write it personally. I wrote about 'Child A' and 'Child B', but there's an awful lot of nature that is there that can't be stamped out." | "I had a field day," she recalls. "I wrote the whole story, but I didn't write it personally. I wrote about 'Child A' and 'Child B', but there's an awful lot of nature that is there that can't be stamped out." |
| The Rylatts and the Wheelers became increasingly close, to the extent that Peggy's daughter Madeleine speaks of effectively having six grandparents - two on her father's side and four on her mother's. | |
| Valerie agrees. "Over the years it's made me a much stronger person, and we all became one great big, united, happy family, as it were, with two mums and two dads," she says. | Valerie agrees. "Over the years it's made me a much stronger person, and we all became one great big, united, happy family, as it were, with two mums and two dads," she says. |
| DNA tests have confirmed the mix-up, but here's never been any attempt to sue the hospital involved. | DNA tests have confirmed the mix-up, but here's never been any attempt to sue the hospital involved. |
| "I wouldn't change it," Valerie, who now lives in Andorra and has taken the surname Rylatt, adds, when talking about what happened during her early years. "I wouldn't have had all the rich experiences I've had in life. I wouldn't change anything." | "I wouldn't change it," Valerie, who now lives in Andorra and has taken the surname Rylatt, adds, when talking about what happened during her early years. "I wouldn't have had all the rich experiences I've had in life. I wouldn't change anything." |
| Valerie Rylatt was interviewed on the Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2 by Paddy O'Connell. | Valerie Rylatt was interviewed on the Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2 by Paddy O'Connell. |
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