TWO MEN SUE HOSPITAL CLAIMING THEY WERE SWITCHED AT BIRTH

Two men born on the same day in 1988 at the same North Dakota hospital are suing it, claiming they were switched at birth and sent home with each other’s biological parents. Kyle Bylin and Jeremy Morrison, both 38, found out through consumer DNA tests, and their families now allege negligence and medical malpractice by Unity Medical Center in Grafton.

Both men were born at the hospital on January 26, 1988. Morrison told CBS affiliate KKTV in Colorado Springs that he believes they were the only babies born there that day, and the lawsuit says the same, PEOPLE reported.

The Associated Press reported that it started when Bylin took an at-home DNA test he picked up in a Christmas gift exchange. The results led him to his biological aunt on a genealogy platform. Morrison then took a test of his own, and the results confirmed the family connection.

Morrison told KKTV that his aunt provided DNA and Bylin came up as her nephew. He said he has no cousins.

Morrison said the news explained a lot. “I didn’t have anyone that looked like me in my family,” he told KKTV. “I was that blonde-haired kid that stood out in a family full of brown-haired people.”

He also thought about the life he missed. “I know I definitely wouldn’t be here in Colorado today if I went home with the right parents,” Morrison said. “I would have been working the farm with my older brother that I never knew I had.”

Valley News Live reported that Evelyn Newton raised Bylin on a farm near Adams, North Dakota. Morrison grew up in Grand Forks and later lived in Colorado. Bylin lives in Michigan.

Morrison said the two men grew up in different areas. “Me and Kyle didn’t grow up in the same area; we couldn’t have gotten switched at daycare or anything like that,” he told KKTV. Both sets of parents have met their biological sons. The AP reported that the two men have spoken by phone but had not met in person.

The hospital says the records are gone

The plaintiffs are both men and both sets of parents. They sued Christian Unity Hospital Corporation, which does business as Unity Medical Center. According to Western Mass News, the complaint was filed July 7, 2026, in Walsh County District Court. It lists five claims: negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, deceit and medical malpractice.

The complaint says the staff involved were working at the time: “The employees and/or agents of Unity Medical Center who switched the newborns and then failed to recognize or correct the error were acting within the scope of their employment and/or agency.” It alleges the separation caused “permanent and irreparable damage to the plaintiffs and their parent/child relationships.” The AP reported that the families allege the hospital was “robbing them of the lives they were supposed to lead.”

Local 12 reported that the plaintiffs want more than $50,000 and have asked for a jury trial. The AP reported that attorney Tim O’Keefe spent about a year trying to negotiate a monetary settlement before the suit was filed.

The hospital does not dispute that the men were switched at some point, the AP reported. It denies that its staff were to blame. In court, Western Mass News reported, its attorneys argued that staff used appropriate skill and reasonable care and asked the court to dismiss the case with prejudice. They also raised the statute of limitations and comparative fault as possible defenses.

In a statement to KKTV, the hospital said it was “currently working to better understand a highly unusual situation involving two men who apparently were separated from their biological parents at some point during their lives.” It said it recognized “the profound impact this discovery has had on them and their families.”

It also said: “Unfortunately, because of the passage of nearly four decades, the medical and staffing records that might have provided additional clarity no longer exist, and no members of the delivery team from that time are still employed by the hospital. While we deeply sympathize with the men and their families, we have found no evidence to support claims that Unity Medical Center or its staff were responsible for what occurred.”

The AP noted that modern hospitals use electronic security technology to help prevent newborn mix-ups.

A scheduling hearing was held on October 14, 2026, the Walsh County Record reported. The case is preparing for trial, and a jury will not hear it before March 2028.