Switched at Birth

Tools

Story Published: May 12, 2009 at 5:59 PM PST

By Lena Vargas

Video
Dorothy Shaffer already had a sister born May 3, 1953. Now she has two. DNA recently confirmed Dee Ann Angell and Kay Rene Reed were switched at birth while still in the hospital.

"It was hard for my sister Kay Rene cause she was still hoping she that it was going to show she was a Reed. But it didn't”, said Shaffer.

That was at first. Since then, the switched daughters celebrated their 56th birthday together and Dorothy says the two have become best of friends.

As to the rest of the family, Dorothy says all it means is the family has been extended. Dorothy says there were always rumblings and clues. For example, Kay Rene has brown eyes and the other siblings she grew up with had blue eyes.

So why wasn't the mystery solved earlier? For one DNA technology is fairly new. Also, "even though the other woman said she had the wrong baby, Mom, as far as she was concerned, she had the right baby”, said Dorothy.

Now she can't help but think her mom and her dad have peace in heaven. “We know both parents are looking down on us and are very happy the way it's turned out, said Dorothy.

It seems Kay Rene and Dee Ann are also happy. "Both say they wouldn't have met their husbands, they wouldn't have the children they have now, and a lot of that just wouldn't have happened” said Dorothy.

Besides a physical resemblance, blond hair, and blue eyes, Dorothy and the lost blood sister Dee Ann also have a few other things in common. They both settled in the tri- cities and they both married "Shaffers", except Dee Ann's married name only has one "f".

Current Weather

Icon
Current Temp 38.0 °F
Overcast
Video
More Weather

Upload directly from your mobile device.

Learn how

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

On Demand