I had complete anesthesia, so was asleep when our baby was born. What are you supposed to be with each other? I tried out for cheerleading, I just couldn't do it, you know, I didn't get picked. She I did feel in the beginning like she was taking my place in my family, and that was odd, very odd, and sometimes I don't know exactly what her relationship is with my sisters. If you have a smartphone or tablet, the easiest way to listen to this, and all the other radio shows for the class, is to download the This American Life app. (26 minutes). Marti says she felt like everything she was interested in was lost on her parents. On a summer day in 1951, two baby girls were born in a hospital in small-town Wisconsin. And I couldn't figure that out at the time. I mean, are there times when you when you feel a little bit guilty about kind of having lucked out with the home that was, you know, maybe a little bit easier to grow up in? Seven kids in all. A small thing, but it was a big thing to me. She even had the exact same oil painting hanging on her wall in California as they had in their living room, a landscape with trees and water. Kay MacDonald in the Miller is eventually reached a kind of detente. Even so, he asked her for forgiveness again and again. If you are able, we strongly encourage you to listen to the audio, which includes emotion and emphasis that's not on the page. We love you, Martha Jane-- I'm sorry. She called and visited her parents regularly. And the purpose of this letter is that Mrs. Miller is breaking the news 43 years after the fact to Martha Insu that she took the wrong baby home from the hospital that Martha and was switched at birth, that she's not Martha's biological mom, she sues. In fact, my mother said, well, just don't tell anybody, you know. The church was the center of their lives and the family never went on vacation or even to the movies. Mr. McDonald had a bad heart and she didn't know what the stress would do to him. That's how long it took her to sort out her feelings. I don't know how I would have survived. Switched at Birth - This American Life 360 July 25, 2008 Switched at Birth On a summer day in 1951, two baby girls were born in a hospital in small-town Wisconsin. [1] And every time I'd talk to him, he'd say, oh, it's all right. That's what most people in town seemed to feel. Today on our show, we hear what happens when somebody takes your family and throws it up in the air like a deck of cards from WBCSD Chicago. I didn't have a doubt in my mind. All she could do was hope that maybe if she dropped enough hints, calling the girls, sisters and such, Kay would eventually realize on her own what had happened. And if that weren't bad enough that lots of people in your town, people around you knew years before you did. She'd also moved out of Wisconsin-- in her case, to Southern California. Sometimes my mom thinks I'm a little fanatical. He, in fact would call me and tell me, I don't care what she says, you're still our kid and I'm glad we had you. I thought that was such a ridiculous thing to say. This American Life, I'm IRA Glass. Florida Woman Who Was Switched at Birth Opens Up About Her Life Post-Scandal: 'I Couldn't Handle the Resentment' In 1989, Kimberly Mays became a media sensation when genetic tests revealed. Nov. 26, 2021. I knew there were things that I couldn't do and keep his friendship, you know, if I turned against him, like on that. Besides her, there was Mary, Lydia, Faith, Ruth, Sonny, Luke and Esther. Marty worked all of her adult life and still does as a nurse. I'm IRA Glass. After they were born, she had written as a Christmas letter and and said she'd always like to keep in touch with Susan because the girls were so much like sisters. And I really didn't know anything about the McDonalds. So I passed it off. Punishes us in any way. Mrs. Miller has for 43 years been longing to see her, the child she'd given birth to. Switched at Birth. And here I am. And she was angry that Mrs. Miller put Sue in the difficult position of having to break news like this to her parents. That is why I wanted to write this letter. Kay McDonald and the Millers eventually reached a kind of detente. All the Millers were invited and all the McDonalds were too. And they were a bookish, serious bunch. He's just outright-- he's just saying, can you forgive me, just like that on the telephone? It's from a mosquito bite. And my own bed to everything I could about. One thing Mrs. Miller doesn't regret is raising Marti. So that was that. So then she found out she has all of these brothers and sisters. Tact isn't her strong suit. Fiction featuring this soap operaish plot :] flag. Switched at Birth: Created by Lizzy Weiss. Reverend Miller is affectionate with her, putting his arm around her waist. The TV series "Switched at Birth" aired on the Freeform network from 2011 to 2017. Was there ever a time when you thought back and thought I should have stood my ground more with him on that? As for Marti, she doesn't like to dwell on the notion that Sue might have been the one who lucked out. At just 20, Rita knew what she was in for. There was nothing any further. He danced with my mother. Listen to this episode from You're Gonna Love This Podcast on Spotify. But then Mrs. Miller told me more her side of this story. No, I guess I haven't, because I knew it wouldn't have worked. They lived a short drive from each other's houses in Wauzeka and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Part of me really doesn't want to know, because I think I would feel left out of something. She didn't grow up with Sue, after all, and she's not actually related to her or to her kids. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized, you know, I can't think about this, because it'll drive me crazy if I do. I just thought it was odd that so many people would know in a town of our size, which is like 5,500 people, when that many people were aware of it, that the news didn't get to us. Katie Leclerc and Adam Hagenbuch in "Switched at Birth.". I think what we do is pretty much our own doing. I don't like to make waves, I guess you might say. That was her idea. So I never will probably understand why. An original radio drama called "Kathleen on the Carpet," in which animals talk and hold their own "animal court." Kay was a Methodist and the Millers were Evangelicals. Reverend Miller. And she said, you really need to consider how that's going to change your family for you and how it's going to change relationships for you. Whatever it was a different life. I mean, I knew that were things I couldn't do and. Well, why don't we just ask Mom and Dad about this. For Sue, her brother's enthusiasm for Marti brought out every insecurity she suffered as a schoolgirl. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print. Mrs. Miller says she worries for Marti and Sue, about whether they'll ever truly get along. There was nothing I didn't have anything to do with it. How are you going to think? 44:35. This was a house with a lot of rules. And the purpose of this letter is that Mrs. Miller is breaking the news-- 43 years after the fact-- to Martha and Sue that she took the wrong baby home from the hospital, that Martha and Sue were switched at birth, that she's not Martha's biological mom, she's Sue's. So he did know it too. And he didn't tell me ahead of time. You know, you were not adopted. You know, I I honestly don't know how much they communicate, how much they're in touch. After all those years, she was just tired of secrets. It took an awful long time and I'm sorry for. That's Ruth. Here's Bob McDonald who remember, was having these great phone calls with his newfound sister. And she said, you really need to consider how that's going to change your family for you and how it's going to change relationships for you. That's Sue. I can still wonder why and probably never will know why it didn't come up any sooner. Mr MacDonald's health didn't allow it. I mean, I'd say, gee, guess what, Bob, I don't think your sister is yours. And you can see, they're just having so much fun and laughing together and just dancing away. Having two sets of parents and two full sets of siblings and cousins is kind of a practical headache. And part of it what makes this so strange is that this wasn't the sort of thing where Mrs. Miller figured this to her surprise after decades of wondering and pondering and painstaking detective work. Yeah, whatever. So, I mean, there would have been no proof. And the Millers came. What Kay McDonald didn't know was that there was a whole slew of people in her church community who had heard about the rumored baby switch from the beginning. And who are these people? At last, Mrs. Miller felt free to act. Incredibly, when Marty was 21 years old, someone actually told her that she might not be a Miller, one of her older sisters, Ruth, came to visit with her husband, Rudy. Marty shared a bed with her sister Faith and had to crawl through this vent to get to the bathroom at night because faith would block the doorway to the hall. And she was talking about the way her mother would talk to her. Marti's accepted that despite some of the clumsy things that her mother said and did when she broke the news to her, she meant well. They understand why she didn't speak out sooner. Conspiracy theories about the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin continue to shape Israel's politics and future. As years went by, when there were family events with everyone, Sue would get anxious if Marty was there to. People were definitely aware whenever both women were in the same room. And both Marty and Sue worry that the families that always thought were theirs and still want to keep them and both mothers and daughters each had to figure it out on their own. Note: This American Life is produced for the ear and designed to be heard. And in the room you were in, you mean that's who it was the first time I'd seen them talk to each other. Switched At Birth didn't escape the norm, and the two main actresses were far from being teens when the show premiered. She looked exactly like him. He told her that he thought it was God's will that this had happened. In fact, she seemed to have a tin ear for the whole thing. I love you both. Rudy had a couple of beers, and after dinner, he got to talking and he started asking me what I knew about the McDonald's. Marti shared a bed with her sister, Faith, and had to crawl through this vent to get to the bathroom at night, because Faith would block the doorway to the hall. I asked my mother. All sorts of interesting people came to the house, guests from out of town and missionaries. That would have ruined it. She also had an older brother, Bob, named after their dad. He explained things like why all those years ago he refused to return to the hospital and switch back the babies. But that didn't seem so strange. Even if she could somehow convince everyone it was true. And she circled my brother's name and said, this is your brother like Bob. Very soon after mine, when we took our baby home, she sneezed five times in a row. It's available wherever you get your podcasts and. There were also some definite deficits. Marti was also married, also had three kids. To get to the bathroom, you had to go under the bed and crawl. And I was always asking anyone who might have seen her. They say they're not angry with her. Nobody would dance with me at the dances. He danced with my mother. I wanted him to agree with me. But they didn't notice any-- I don't know why they didn't notice it that Martha looked like them and was like them. This is not my family. And as Ruth and Faith saw it, it wasn't their place to mess in their parents' affairs, which is why, when her husband Rudy blurted it out a few years later, Ruth was so shocked.