Grafton – 21 July 2026: Two families have filed a lawsuit against Unity Medical Center in North Dakota after DNA tests allegedly proved that two newborns were switched 38 years ago. Kyle Bylin and Jeremy Morrison were reportedly the only children born that day, 26 January 1988, at the hospital in Grafton. Nevertheless, both subsequently grew up with families to whom they were not biologically related.
The lawsuit was filed with the Walsh County District Court on 7 July. The defendant is Christian Unity Hospital Corporation, which operates under the name Unity Medical Center. The plaintiffs accuse the hospital of negligence and a serious error in discharging the infants. They are seeking damages for the personal and family consequences resulting from the parentage that was only discovered decades later.
The case was triggered by a privately arranged DNA test taken by Kyle Bylin, which he selected as part of a Christmas gift exchange. On a genealogy platform, a biological aunt appeared who did not fit with the family in which he had grown up. Her nephew, Jeremy Morrison, then also had his DNA tested. According to the families, the results confirmed that each man belongs to the biological parents of the other.
The hospital does not dispute that the two men were born at the facility on the same day. However, it says there is no evidence that hospital employees caused the switch. Unity Medical Center also notes that medical records and personnel files from that period no longer exist and that no member of the delivery team at the time still works there. The question of responsibility therefore remains the subject of the proceedings.
The case also touches on the legal difficulty posed by long periods of time. According to U.S. media reports, the hospital has argued that the lawsuit may be time-barred because of the time that has passed since 1988. The families, by contrast, argue that the cause of the harm only became apparent through genetic testing. A court will therefore have to decide not only on the alleged breach of duty, but also on whether the lawsuit is admissible.
For those affected, the matter goes beyond financial claims. The DNA results led to meetings with biological parents and siblings, without replacing the bonds developed over decades with the families who raised them. Jeremy Morrison now lives in Colorado, while Kyle Bylin pursued an academic career outside North Dakota, according to the Associated Press news agency. Both families are now trying to incorporate their newly discovered family relationships into their existing life stories.
The case also shows how commercial DNA tests can expose historical mistakes that would previously have been difficult to prove. Modern clinical identification procedures, electronic documentation and securely verified patient wristbands are intended to largely prevent newborn mix-ups today. In this specific case, however, technological advances cannot reconstruct what happened on 26 January 1988: according to the hospital, the crucial original records no longer exist.
Sources
- Associated Press
- WBTV
- Unity Medical Center