A young Spanish woman has been awarded close to €1 million in compensation after a DNA test revealed she was switched with another baby at birth in a hospital mix-up.
A Life-Altering Discovery
The 23-year-old woman, who has a right to anonymity, was in her mid-teens when she took a commercial DNA test. The results were devastating, showing that the people who had raised her were not her biological parents. This discovery prompted her to contact health authorities to investigate the unimaginable error.
An official investigation, which took four years to complete, confirmed the terrible truth. In 2002, staff at the San Millán Hospital in Logroño, northern Spain, sent two newborn girls home with the wrong families. Authorities have described the incident as a tragic case of ‘human error’, though the precise circumstances remain unclear.
Irreparable Damage and Legal Battle
The emotional toll was compounded by further heartbreaking news. During the lengthy investigation, the woman learned that her biological mother had died in 2018, meaning the two would never have the chance to meet.
Both women affected by the hospital's mistake launched separate legal cases. The woman who lost her birth mother claimed over €3 million for ‘irreparable damages’. The court ultimately ruled that each woman should receive €850,000 (approximately £740,000).
The claimant in this case was awarded an additional €125,000 (around £109,000). This extra compensation recognised the unique difficulties in her upbringing, as her legal parents had severe disabilities and could not raise her. She was instead brought up by her legal grandmother, which the court said led to feelings of abandonment and instability.
Acceptance and Accountability
A spokesperson for the regional government stated: ‘On behalf of the government of La Rioja, we accept the ruling, we respect it, and we fully comply with it because it is only right to recognize moral damages in such sensitive and delicate cases.’
The compensation, which could still be increased following a pending appeal, will be paid by the insurers of the Rioja Health Service. This case highlights the profound and lifelong consequences of a single administrative error in a maternity ward.
