I believe that with all my heart you should tell the woman living in your shoes what you think happened... I have 4 sisters and 3 brothers and love them all with all my heart... I have one sister that was given away by her birth mother after she left my father, he finally found her when she was 17 years old.. Dawn is now 42 and my best friend.... My other sister Tina was 38 years old and found us!! Tina sent out about 100 letters to men named George Lawson and one was sent to my dad's house and to my brother's house.. I got the mail that day at my dad's house.... She has a medical condition and needed to know about the family history!! It as been about 4 years now and I love them all just as though I grew up with them and I don't ever wanna be without them, they are all mine.... They belong with me and my family and no where else, I would never want them to be or ever feel alone.. I have a full blooded sister that is dying because of a drinking problem and if 5 of us sibilings don't match, maybe, just maybe one of the other sisters will!! It is so very important that you tell the lady of your finding... She will most likely take with open arms and just think of your REAL brothers and sisters... I am sure they need you just as I am sure you need them!! Good Luck and I wish you the best.....

After reading the response Prudence left, I am a little shocked. I love reading these columns, but I think it is a terrible thing to say that her mission to seek out the other girl switched was creepy. It must have been almost unbearable to discover something this atrocious. Just because she didn't state the reactions of the other woman does not mean there was no reaction, how much can she gracefully write about the event? The woman who made this heartbreaking discovery is only human and trying to piece together a life and family she has EVERY RIGHT TO KNOW ABOUT. It is her blood, her history, and her children's. You never know what the outcome may be. Yes, obviously the other woman may not feel the same wanting to know her true biological roots, but it is the other woman's every right to at least try. That is why we have rights.

I have to agree with everyone here and not with Pruddy. I was also shocked at the advice of not to contact, I think absolutely contact them. There may not be a gracious way but a phone call to one of them would be a start. Maybe a different sibling other than the one who was switched would be best though. Please have substantial proof of what you are doing. How can you be sure with out a DNA check? Be careful and absolutely certain with no doubt before you do this. If you are then connect with your rightful family.

After reading this I have to mention my little experience. My mother had numerous 'stories' she talked about through the years. One of them about me was that I was so tiny that she had to wrap me in several blankets just to keep hold of me, even when I was 5 or 6 months old. Another story was that when she was pregnant with me she was so huge that her shape was forever altered and her rib cage was enlarged.After many years (and after the Kimberly May story came out) I started to pay more attention to this, and started wondering--back in the 40's when I was born, they put the mother under complete anethesia for the birth. What if she had had twins (there was no ultrasound or anything) and someone else's baby died and so they thought that it would be kind to 'give' her the extra baby. My parents were very poor.

So - I did try to go through the local newspaper from the town I was born in to see if there was another girl born the same day i was. I found out that I wasn't even listed in the birth section! I did mention this to my brother, who promptly told my mother who was horrified and angry with me for thinking such a thing. I live in another state and haven't really thought about this much since then.

I do realize that my mother had her little stories and repeated them throughout her life, and when she got older the stories got more interesting, but she had told these two stories from the time I could remember. Anyway, I had forgotten all about this. Makes you wonder.

Yeah, I totally agree with your guys. I was like... Who the hack is this woman answering the email?? I feel terrible for the lady that asked. How can she derogates her as "creepy"?! Who in that type of situation wouldn't be interested and wanted to find out? And her advice was to "bury" this story??! Gosh, "Prudence" should be the one buried. Stop giving bad and hurting advice to people. That switched child story is totally interesting!

As you don't know any of these people how can you "be sure" that they "need you?" It is a common mistake for people to assume that just because they feel or think a certain way, then others do to. I believe Prudence was right on one thing--medical histories are rarely really needed, Lifetime movies notwithstanding. As an adopted person with no medical history, it's never been a problem. My doctors over the years had said it's not really necessary. And I agree with Prudence that the way she contacted this woman under the guise of a college paper was creepy--very close to stalking.

Oh, good thing you know you can't know what others wants. So it can be that they don't want to know. It can also be they wanted to know. That means, there is a chance that the other women wanted to know the truth. You aren't saying anything.

And even if it's stalking, so what? Talking to the other woman under guise can give her a chance to learn a little more about that other woman and see if she might wanna learn the truth.

Afterall, how morally it is to not want to learn about your real parents?! Even if they are dead, the two switched daughters can still share their stories of their parents to each others. And if they ended up not liking other each. They still have the option of stop contacting. Then, that's the appropriate time to leave this past behind. Either way, Prudence is just plain insensitive to the feelings of this poor lady that wrote the letter. That's not the way to advice people.

I'll be in the minority here, but I agree with Pruddy. If the writer had unquestionable evidence that she discovered through her research, she was not specific about it. I agree that blood type and physical features might be a good indication of her claim, but before she sets out to intrude on and disrupt someone elses life, she should have more evidence to back up her theory.

mshappy19:

I'll be in the minority here, but I agree with Pruddy. ... but before she sets out to intrude on and disrupt someone elses life, she should have more evidence to back up her theory.

Just shows how many gullible people are out there. The above posters are the same ones who would have been rioting in the streets upon hearing "War of the Worlds" on the radio for the first time.

Or maybe we try to keep an open mind about things. There are dozens of variables to consider. The letters might have had much more information in them, but was edited for length. The writer might have done extensive research and DNA tests with her siblings, and we just don't know. Again, based on the small amount of information given, we don't know for sure, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was all just a joke. I just wouldn't bet all of my life's savings on it.

Letbknown, your story is touching. :)

ellytoad:

There are dozens of variables to consider.

You could "what if" these till the cows come home. What if she's really a princess, and to avoid a coup, they hid her with this family, and the parents tragically died before they could reveal the truth?

Come on. I'd bet a lot more of my savings that it WAS a hoax or that she's dellusional, than that it's true.

I don't understand this urge to eviscerate Prudence for calling this woman creepy. She met the woman under false pretenses, so she clearly was already convinced that she was switched at birth, and then decides that she's the spitting image of "her" parents?

That's creepy. Once she has better evidence, then maybe, but what was printed doesn't make me believe that she has fact on her side.

Colage:

She met the woman under false pretenses, so she clearly was already convinced that she was switched at birth, and then decides that she's the spitting image of "her" parents?

That's creepy.

I does sound like a good plot for some slasher film. Similar to "Single White Female".

The "Family Guy" offshot direct-to-video movie entitled:

Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story

includes the major plotline of Stewie's search for his "real" father.

Bless you!