19 January 2015

Switched at Birth? Or Something Else?

No matter how assiduously you've followed the paper record it's worth keeping in the back of your mind the possibility that something undocumented happened.

Babies being inadvertently switched  at birth is one of the less frequent occurrences, but it does happen. Twelve such events are given in this article; one relates to Ottawa.

Add:

  • undocumented adoptions, 
  • mothers claiming maternity of their young daughter's child
  • the supposed father not being the biological father (non-paternity rates are typically quoted as 1-2%).
Overall, proof by birth or baptismal certificate is never 100%.

UPDATE

Another case in a well written story at https://strangepilgrimage.wordpress.com/2015/01/22/and-who-wouldve-thought-it-figures/

3 comments:

turner said...

There is an article in today's Ottawa Citizen which mentions that Jack Nicholson, the actor, had been devastated to discover after the deaths of both his mother and sister, that his sister had been his mother and his mother his grandmother. Nothing ever changes.

Brenda

Gail Roger said...

I have a birth certificate in my possession in which a wrong name for a parent was deliberately given --both parents had married partners still living. Another birth certificate supplies the wrong maiden name for the mother, and I have a marriage certificate which wildly exaggerates the position of the bride's late father. It took me years to discover the truth in all these cases.

Legacy Tree said...

Yes, DNA is certainly making waves in what has been accepted as proven genealogy in the past. It's an exciting time to be involved!