two Oklahoma the women were shocked to discover that the mothers and fathers who raised them were not their biological parents, but rather that 55 years ago they were replaced at birth in a local hospital.
Tina Ennis and Jill Lopez, now 57, first made the shocking revelation last month when they filed a lawsuit against Duncan Regional Mixing Hospital in 1964 – which they only discovered in 2019 thanks to a DNA test on Ancestry.com .
In an interview with todaythe two women spoke candidly about learning the truth and what it meant to them.
Catherine Jones, Lopez’s biological mother but the mother who raised Ennis, meanwhile, said she was “completely overwhelmed” by the discovery, describing it as if “someone had caught an ax” in her heart.
“There are so many people involved,” Ennis added. “It’s not just Jill and me.” These are two whole families.
Two women who learned from a DNA test on Ancestry.com that they were replaced at birth in 1964 are suing an Oklahoma hospital for harmful confusion (Tina Ennis pictured left, Jill Lopez pictured right)
Ennis (right) and her mother, Catherine Jones (left), spoke of the devastating confusion on Today’s show.
Jones remembers thinking Ennis was a beautiful baby when he arrived at Duncan’s Hospital and Surgeons Hospital on May 18, 1964.
Jill Lopez and Tina Ennis were born on the same day in 1964 and grew up about two hours apart as complete strangers. At age 55, they discovered they had been replaced when they were babies in the hospital. @tvkatesnow shares their story. pic.twitter.com/8G6PAYbYur
– TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 1, 2022
Jones remembers thinking Ennis was a beautiful baby when he arrived at Duncan’s Hospital and Surgeons Hospital on May 18, 1964.
Ennis remembers a happy childhood, but also said she noticed she didn’t look quite like the rest of her family.
“I looked at a picture one day and it was my two sisters, my mother and I, and I couldn’t find anything on either of these people who looked like me,” she said. “As if there was no resemblance.”
But Jones insisted she looked exactly like the man believed to be her biological father, who left when she was two.
Jones’ father had also left when she was a child, and in 2019, Ennis did a DNA test to try to learn more about her grandfather.
But she was confused when the results came back, and her list of DNA relatives had names she didn’t know, including Brister.
Jones didn’t know the names either, so Ennis had her do a DNA test.
Ennis remembers a happy childhood, but also said she noticed she didn’t look quite like the rest of her family.
“I looked at a picture one day and it was my two sisters, my mother and I, and I couldn’t find anything on either of these people who looked like me,” she said. “As if there was no resemblance”
Ennis did a DNA test in 2019 and found a bunch of relatives on Ancestry.com with names she didn’t know
She persuaded her mother to take a test, and they learned they were not biologically related
“Ours didn’t match,” Ennis said.
Ennis’s 26-year-old daughter suggested she was changed at birth and began digging online, searching for names that appeared in Ennis’ links on Ancestry.com.
She was able to find a woman nearby who was born on the same day – and, remarkably, she looked very much like Jones.
“I thought she looked just like my mother,” Ennis said.
This woman was Lopez, to whom Ennis soon sent a message, persuading her to do a DNA test.
She returned with Jones as a coincidence with her mother.
“All I could think about was how I would tell my mother,” Ennis said, crying. “I just thought she wouldn’t be able to do it. That’s what I thought.
Jones was heartbroken.
“It simply came to my notice then. It completely ruined me, “she said.
Ennis’s 26-year-old daughter found a woman nearby who was born the same day – and, remarkably, she looked a lot like Jones (Lopez pictured as a child)
“It’s hard to know what to do, you know, because there are no books to buy [to] I will survive you, “Lopez said
Unfortunately, Ennis’ biological parents, Joyce and John Brister, have died
“She was afraid she would lose me,” Ennis said. “And she wouldn’t do it.” I wouldn’t leave her.
“I could not lose Tina. She will always be my daughter, “Jones added. “I loved her from the moment they put her in my arms.”
Ever since they learned about the change, Lopez and Jones have known each other, learning that they have a shared love of purple, shopping and real estate sales.
Unfortunately, Ennis’ biological parents, Joyce and John Brister, have died.
“It’s hard to know what to do, you know, because there are no books to buy [to] I will survive you, “Lopez said.
Ennis, Lopez and Jones are now suing Duncan Regional Hospital (which merged with Duncan Hospital and Surgeons Hospital in 1975) for recklessness and negligent infliction of emotional stress.
The hospital responded by claiming that although it had merged with the hospital where the two women were born, it was not the same and therefore not responsible.
Jones, Lopez’s biological mother but the mother who raised Ennis, said she was “completely overwhelmed” by the discovery, describing it as “someone caught a hatchet” in her heart.
Ennis (far left) failed to meet her biological parents, but Jones (bottom left) had a chance to meet Lopez.
Ennis, Lopez (left) and Jones (right) sue Duncan Regional Hospital (which merged with Duncan Hospital and Surgeons Hospital in 1975) for recklessness and negligent infliction of emotional stress.
The women had previously talked to Everyday beast for the ordeal, with Ennis describing the terrible moment in which he realized the truth.
“It simply came to my notice then [in that moment] because I just said to myself, “This is real,” she said.
At first, Jones didn’t want to believe it, but when he saw a picture of Lopez working in real estate, he initially thought it was an old picture of her.
“Because she actually looked just like me,” Jones said. And that ruined me.
Jones said one of the worst parts of the discovery was the realization that her grandchildren were not biologically hers either.
“It was as if someone had ripped a piece of my heart out,” Jones said. I just couldn’t handle it.