Two men who were the only infants born at Unity Medical Center in Grafton, North Dakota, on Jan. 26, 1988, are at the center of a lawsuit alleging the babies were switched at birth. The complaint, filed this year, says the infants were sent home with the other child’s parents and that the mix-up was not discovered for more than 36 years. The plaintiffs are seeking more than $50,000 and have demanded a jury trial.
An image associated with this story shows Unity Medical Center in Grafton, North Dakota, per the hospital’s public statement.
How the switch came to light
According to reporting by Fox News and local outlet KKTV, the potential mix-up surfaced after modern consumer DNA testing. Fox News and KKTV reported that Jeremy Morrison took a consumer DNA test about two years ago and learned the people who raised him were not his biological parents. Those outlets say Morrison provided samples and family-relation data that led to a match with Kyle Bylin.
Per the Fox News and KKTV accounts cited in the court filings, Morrison told reporters his aunt provided DNA that helped establish the relationship to Bylin. Morrison said he long felt out of place growing up — “I didn’t have anyone that looked like me in my family,” he told a local reporter. The DNA findings and the reporting are described in the complaint; The Nonstop News has not independently verified the DNA test results.
The lawsuit and media coverage note that both sets of parents have reportedly met the biological sons after the DNA matches surfaced, though the two men have not yet met each other, according to the reporting cited in the complaint.
Allegations: babies switched at birth
The civil complaint names Christian Unity Hospital Corporation, doing business as Unity Medical Center, and alleges that hospital staff mistakenly sent each infant home with the other child’s biological parents on Jan. 26, 1988. Plaintiffs say the alleged error went unnoticed for more than 36 years and ask a jury to determine fault and damages, seeking compensatory relief exceeding $50,000.
The filing frames the claimed mistake as the central allegation and asks the court to consider the emotional and practical effects the families and men say resulted from the alleged switch. The complaint relies on the date of birth and the assertion that the two men were the only newborns at the hospital that day as part of its factual narrative.
Hospital response and legal defenses
Unity Medical Center has denied the allegations and has asked the court to dismiss the suit with prejudice. In court filings, hospital attorneys state staff “possessed and exercised the appropriate degree of skill and learning” and acted with reasonable care, judgment and diligence.
In a statement to KKTV, the hospital said it is “currently working to better understand a highly unusual situation involving two men who apparently were separated from their biological parents at some point during their lives.” The hospital added: “Both men were born at our hospital on the same day in 1988, and we recognize the profound impact this discovery has had on them and their families.”
The hospital also warned that, because nearly four decades have passed, “the medical and staffing records that might have provided additional clarity no longer exist, and no members of the delivery team from that time are still employed by the hospital,” and said it found “no evidence to support claims that Unity Medical Center or its staff were responsible for what occurred.” Those statements appear in the hospital’s court filings and its statement to local media.
Hospital lawyers have asserted procedural defenses, including that the statute of limitations and comparative-fault doctrines could bar or limit recovery because of the long delay between the alleged incident and the lawsuit.
Legal claims, damages and next steps
The plaintiffs have demanded a jury trial and are seeking damages above the $50,000 threshold used in the complaint. The filing asks the court to consider both economic and non-economic harms the families and men say flowed from the alleged switch.
Proving the specific facts alleged may be difficult. The complaint alleges events from 1988, and the hospital says key contemporaneous records and personnel no longer exist. If the judge denies the hospital’s motion to dismiss, the case would move into discovery, where the parties could seek any surviving records, exchange written questions, and take depositions of witnesses who can be located.
If discovery proceeds, plaintiffs may attempt to rely on modern DNA evidence and witness recollection; defendants will likely press procedural bars and challenge the sufficiency of proof. Experts on hospital practice from the late 1980s could be called to testify about typical procedures at the time, should the court allow such expert evidence.
What to watch next: the court’s ruling on Unity Medical Center’s motion to dismiss, any rulings limiting evidence because of the passage of time, and whether the parties reach a settlement before trial. If the suit survives the initial motion, the case could proceed to a protracted discovery phase and, absent settlement, a jury trial.
Direct quotes in filings and reporting underscore the human side of the dispute. Morrison told a reporter, “I know I definitely wouldn’t be here in Colorado today if I went home with the right parents,” describing how the discovery altered his sense of identity and life path. The hospital’s statement to KKTV emphasized its intent to review the matter while denying responsibility.
Source reporting for this article includes coverage by Fox News and KKTV; the DNA-testing details and family-meeting accounts in this story are reported by those outlets and are described in the court complaint, but The Nonstop News has not independently verified DNA results or private family communications. Original reporting: Fox News; related local reporting cited in filings: KKTV.
