In a surprising turn of events, it was revealed that two male infants were born consecutively at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens, New York on May 26, 1960. Both babies shared the last name McMahon and were born within an hour of each other, with sequential birth certificate numbers, 156-60-412710 for one and 156-60-112711 for the other.
Fast forward to October 2020, Carol Vignola, the sister of Kevin McMahon, one of the infants born on that fateful day, decided to submit her and her family’s DNA to the world’s largest genealogy company, Ancestry.com, out of curiosity. The results shocked her as she discovered the existence of another McMahon brother they were not aware of, named Ross McMahon.
Further investigation revealed that Ross and Carol’s actual brother Kevin were born on the same day at the same hospital: Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
In December 2020, Carol informed Kevin to also submit his DNA to Ancestry.com for testing. The results showed that Kevin was not biologically related to his sister or any other member of the McMahon family. Instead, Kevin’s DNA matched that of Ross’s actual brother, Keith McMahon.
In January 2021, Kevin learned that he and Ross McMahon were mistakenly switched at birth by the hospital, meaning that two male infants born within the same hour and with the same surname were each given to the wrong set of parents.
Subsequently, in November 2021, 60-year-old Kevin filed a lawsuit against Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens, holding them responsible for the grave error that altered his entire life.
The lawsuit stated that due to the hospital’s negligence in providing proper care and supervision to the newborn plaintiff, significant emotional damage was inflicted upon him. Discovering that he had been raised in the wrong family for 60 years, realizing his entire life was based on falsehoods, and learning that his siblings were not his biological relatives caused immense emotional distress and suffering for Kevin.
The lawsuit does not specify the amount of compensation sought.
According to the New York Post, Kevin had been subjected to suspicion within his family since childhood due to his physical differences from other family members. He endured emotional abuse from his grandmother and father, observing how other siblings were treated differently with affection, while he was not.
Sixty years later, Kevin finally learned the truth behind these discrepancies: he was not a member of the family he grew up in; his true identity belonged to Ross McMahon.
On the other hand, Ross’s fate unfolded quite differently. He was the firstborn son of the family, who had never doubted his lineage, and received unconditional love from his parents and relatives. Upon hearing this news, Kevin even felt a twinge of jealousy towards Ross.
Jamaica Hospital Medical Center has not commented on the matter.