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A Baby Mix-up #453: Grace Robinson Papers

Babies swapped at birth sounds like a plot twist from a daytime soap opera, but in the 1920s and 30s there were a number of baby mix-ups. One of the best publicized occurred in a Chicago hospital.

On June 30th, 1930, two baby boys were born two hours apart in the same hospital room. It was hospital policy to label each baby’s back with adhesive tape, so one baby was labeled Bamberger, the other Watkins. Somehow, upon leaving the hospital, the Bambergers left with the baby labeled Watkins, while the Watkins left with the baby labeled Bamberger.

When hospital authorities were notified, they claimed the babies had simply been mislabeled – each family had their rightful child. The Watkins family was suspicious. They sued the hospital and demanded that the Bambergers hand over their baby.

It was well before the era of DNA tests and confusion reigned. Medical experts were called in to try to distinguish which baby was which. A dispute raged for 5 weeks, and newspapers followed the story closely. Eventually the Bambergers were persuaded to trade babies with the Watkins and the two boys grew up to become friends.

See the Grace Robinson papers at UW’s American Heritage Center site. to learn more.