Two men in Canada are seeking compensation from the government after they found out they were switched at birth more than 60 years ago, CBC News reported last week.
One of the men, Edward Ambrose, was informed by his sister last year that she had discovered from a 23 and Me DNA test that they were not biological siblings and that she had a brother, Richard Beauvais in British Columbia.
Beavais and Ambrose were born at the same hospital in Arborg, Manitoba on the same day in 1955.
Beauvais' background
Beauvais was raised by his mother after his father died when he was young in the historically Metis community of Saint Laurent. Beauvais said he had a difficult childhood but that it “seemed normal to us,” accoring to The Canadian Press.
He added that he was bullied for being Indigenous, but that he was always proud of his Metis background.
However, Beauvais found out that he is actually of Ukrainian, Jewish and Polish descent rather than Cree and French as he had always thought.
"I came from a time where it was shameful to be an Indian. I felt I lost something, because when you fight so hard to be somebody, and all of a sudden you're not that person — it sets you back," Beauvais told CBC, adding that "It was very emotional for me to phone my sisters and tell them I'm not their brother. That was hard."
Ambrose's background
Ambrose grew up on a farm in Rembrandt, Manitoba with a Ukrainian family, according to the CBC report.
"I wasn't ready for that. It was a shock to me," Ambrose told CBC about when he found out he had been switched at birth. "It [hurt], like there was something ripped out of me."
According to The Canadian Press, Ambrose and Beavais' attorney said he requested that Manitoba Health Minister Audrey Gordon meet with them to respond to the mens' suffering as a result of the mishap.
He added that Manitoba's lawyers had said that the province has no legal liability and therefore would not provide compensation.