A Japanese lorry driver, who grew up in poverty, discovered he had been switched at birth with a baby from a wealthy family and successfully sued the hospital responsible, winning 38 million yen (about RM1.4 million) in compensation.
The case, dating back to 2013, resurfaced amid recent reports of Chinese children abducted young and later reunited with affluent parents. The court ruled that San-ikukai Hospital in Tokyo’s Sumida district was liable for the 1953 mix-up.
The truth emerged six decades later when the rich family’s younger sons grew suspicious of their elder brother’s treatment of their father. DNA testing on a cigarette butt in 2009 confirmed he was not biologically related. Hospital records then helped identify the lorry driver, who had been born 13 minutes earlier than the baby he was switched with.
Growing up in a poor household, the driver had no electricity, worked part-time, struggled through secondary school, and was constantly told he didn’t resemble his parents. Meanwhile, the baby who lived his life in the wealthy family received a top education and became a company boss.
Judge Masatoshi Miyasaka ruled in favor of the driver, stating he “deserved compensation because he should have been raised in a financially comfortable environment” and had been unfairly separated from his biological parents at birth.
A similar case in China involved 27-year-old Xie Qingshuai, whose wealthy father reunited with him by gifting three furnished flats.
