Hospital staff swapped two babies at birth who were then raised by unsuspecting families... until DNA test 36 years on exposed the scandal, lawsuit alleges

By WILL POTTER, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 13:31, 16 July 2026 | Updated: 13:36, 16 July 2026 Two North Dakota families have launched a lawsuit against a hospital claiming that staff mistakenly switched their baby boys at birth over 38 years ago.  The shocking mix-up allegedly unfolded at United Medical Center in Grafton, North Dakota on January 26, 1988.  Kyle Bylin and Jeremy Morrison were the only two babies born at the hospital that day, but staff allegedly inadvertently swapped them and handed them to the wrong families.  The two boys were then raised by each other's unsuspecting biological families, and the mistake was not realized for over 36 years.  That was when the woman Morrison had believed was his aunt took a DNA test for an ancestry website that flagged Bylin as her nephew.   Morrison said he does not have any cousins, and his family instantly knew something was wrong.  Morrison, who now lives in Colorado, said he was heartbroken by the news, but he admitted he always felt different from the rest of his family.  'I didn’t have anyone that looked like me in my family,' he said. 'I was that blonde-haired kid that stood out in a family full of brown-haired people.'  Jeremy Morrison says he discovered he was switched at birth with another baby boy when he took a DNA test for an ancestry website and found the parents who raised him were not his biological parents  A lawsuit alleges that Morrison was switched at birth by hospital staff with Kyle Bylin (pictured), but the mistake was not realized for over 36 years  Morrison in his childhood, being held by a woman he alleges is Bylin's true biological mother Morrison said he has been left grieving a different life and family that he never knew throughout his childhood.  'I know I definitely wouldn’t be here in Colorado today if I went home with the right parents,' he said.  'I would have been working the farm with my older brother that I never knew I had. 'If you feel like you look different than everyone else, there might be a reason for it.'  Since discovering the mistake, the two sets of biological parents have met, but Morrison and Bylin have not met each other.  They are seeking a jury trial and upwards of $50,000 in damages in their lawsuit.  Unity Medical Center denied the claims in their lawsuit, and has filed a motion in court to dismiss the case with prejudice.  The hospital's attorneys argued in their filing that medical staff 'possessed and exercised the appropriate degree of skill and learning' and 'at all times used reasonable care, judgment, and diligence.'  Attorneys also claimed that the lawsuit came past the statute of limitations, noting 'the length of time that has passed between the alleged incident and the service of this lawsuit.'  Bylin (left) and Morrison (right) were allegedly swapped at birth by hospital staff  The shocking mix-up allegedly unfolded at United Medical Center in Grafton, North Dakota on January 26, 1988. Morrison said he always felt different from his family, saying he 'was that blonde-haired kid that stood out in a family full of brown-haired people' In a statement to KKTV, Unity Medical Center said: 'Unity Medical Center has been honored to serve the people of this region for more than 100 years.  'Throughout that time, our commitment has remained the same, to provide compassionate, high-quality care while keeping the well-being of our patients and their families at the center of everything we do. 'We are 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.  'Both men were born at our hospital on the same day in 1988, and we recognize the profound impact this discovery has had on them and their families. '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. 'As caregivers, our hearts go out to both men and to everyone affected by this difficult situation. We can only imagine the range of emotions they and their loved ones are experiencing.' The Daily Mail has contacted the hospital for updates.