Three days later, on December 2, Arlena was born at the same hospital. Kimberly was born on Novemat Hardee Memorial Hospital in Florida. 'I couldn’t believe it, she wasn’t supposed to die, everybody said she would be okay.'Īrlena's brother told 20/20: 'She was my sidekick, I was the one pulling her around in the little red wagon in the front yard after church on Sunday. Regina Twigg, (pictured), has not spoken to Kimberly Mays in several years but claims she still loves the little girl she lost at the hospital over 30 years ago 'I felt like I had died with her and I laid my head on her chest and told her I was sorry that I couldn’t help her.'Īnother sister, Gina Twigg, said upon learning of Arlena's death: 'I stayed at my best friend’s house and I remember my mom showed up and she told me that she passed away. Irisa Roylance, one of Arlena's sisters, tells 20/20 of the moment she learned she had died, saying: 'I remember watching the monitor and the heart rate just dropped and dropped and dropped until she was gone. She also tells of her emotional journey in coming to terms with her new identity, including her mistakes and regrets along the way.Īrlena's biological siblings also speak for the first time about her tragic childhood, how their grieving process was disrupted when Kimberly entered their lives and their current relationship with their biological sister. In the 20/20 interview, Kimberly Mays also reveals previously unknown details about her tough childhood and the negative impact of the switch. She claims she told a nurse at the time that the baby 'looked different' to her and her family In a 20/20 special titled 'Switched at Birth or Stolen?' which is due to air on Friday, Kimberly opens up 30 years after she discovered who she really was.Īrlena Twigg is pictured with Regina Twigg above, who later discovered Arlena was not her biological daughter. Over the course of the next 10 years Kimberly would move in with the Twiggs, divorce the Twiggs and move back in with Robert, run away multiple times and eventually marry her high school boyfriend and give birth to a son.Īrlena's heart began to fail just days after she was born, leading to problems with her lungs, but the newborn survived for nine more years before her death. This was revealed after Arlena - who died of a genetic heart defect at 9-years-old - had a blood test that showed Ernest and Regina Twigg were not her biological parents, and Robert Mays and his late-wife Barbara were. Kimberly Mays made national headlines in 1988 when it was revealed that she and Arlena Twigg had been given to the wrong parents a decade earlier.
Published: 15:29 BST, 27 November 2019 | Updated: 19:02 BST, 27 November 2019Ī Florida woman who learned she had been switched at birth is opening up about her tumultuous teenage years and living with a new identity - as an ABC Special probes claims the infants were deliberately swapped in the hospital.
A 20/20 special due to air Friday night suggests the girls may have been deliberately switched when they were born in 1978.Mays, 41, opens up in an interview 30 years after the scandal came to light.Kimberly Mays and Arlena Twigg were switched at birth at Florida hospital in 1979, something that came to light after Arlena had a blood test as a child.Florida woman swapped at birth speaks out 30 years on from discovering real identity - as ABC Special probes whether the mix-up was DELIBERATE
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