Switched At Birth: The True Story of Robin and Gavin

Two boys accidentally switched at birth; what happens when their mothers find out, and how do the boys feel now as they look back?

It’s a plot point in movies, TV shows, and books. Two children born in the same hospital on the same day accidentally go home with the wrong parents. The first time I remember the ‘switched at birth’ storyline was in the movie Big Business (Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin). I thought it was the funniest thing I’d ever heard. Of course, it could only happen in a comedy movie; how could such a thing happen in real life? But, back in 1989, it did. And two South African boys, Robin and Gavin, continue to deal with the fallout.

**Switched at Birth | Northcliff Melville Times (citizen.co.za)**

Two years after the boys were switched in the hospital, Gavin fell ill, and a DNA test was performed. Quickly, it became clear Gavin’s mother was not his biological mother. Once the hospital informed all parties, the mothers made a shocking but impossible decision: they would not switch the boys back. (I can’t imagine what those mothers must have gone through while making that decision.)

**Man Swapped At Birth Said He Resented Fact That Mother Never Switched Him Back (ladbible.com)**

At first, it seemed like the right decision. The boys were more than friends; they felt like brothers. Despite their history, or maybe because of it, they had a rare bond. But as they grew up, their lives began to diverge, and resentment toward each other and their mothers built up. One boy had opportunity and wealth, while the other grew up with very little when it came to money and possessions. As Robin and Gavin grew into adulthood, their opinions and attitudes toward the events of their lives changed, and their feelings may surprise you. Maybe you blame the mothers’ decision, but what would you do if you found out your child was switched at birth? Would any decision be the right one?

Watch the last time 60 Minutes Australia interviewed the boys in 2004 and again in 2012:

It’s been one of the most extraordinary stories ever reported on 60 Minutes, two boys born on the same day who were switched at birth. Two years later, the mothers discovered the terrible truth: they’d each been raising the wrong child. Then, the agonising decision – should they give back the sons they’d believed were their own? Well, they chose nurture over nature and decided not to swap the boys back. Today, they’re teenagers, having grown up living the other’s life – for one it’s been a tough life on the breadline, while the other has struck it lucky.

(2012) Imagine making a decision – just one decision – that would haunt you for life and rip away everything you loved. Back in 1991, Sandy Dawkins and Megs Clinton Parker discovered that their two-year-old sons had been switched at birth, that they were each raising a child that was not biologically their own. They could have swapped the boys over then and there. But they didn’t. For the next two decades, we watched as Sandy and Megs tried to make their bizarre relationship work. But, perhaps inevitably, it all fell apart. Now, 23 years later, there’s been yet another and even more extraordinary twist in this bitter family saga.