Sophie Serrano, who led the lawsuit against the Cannes-based clinic that unwittingly made the shocking blunder, spoke about her ‘terror’ after finding out the truth.
After enduring rumours that Manon was “the postman’s daughter’, Sophie went ahead with a DNA test to determine the true identity of her child, with the results shocking her to the core.
“Immediately I felt terrified. What if the other parents wanted their baby back? Was I going to lose my daughter?” said the 38-year-old.
She added: “Questions ran through my mind: what about the other child, the one I brought into the world? Was she still alive? Was she ok?”
The truth tore her world apart, leading to the breakdown of her relationship with her partner. She also suffered from depression in the aftermath of the revelation.
Recalling the moment that the two families met, when the girls were aged 10, Sophie describes it as “disturbing”.
“This girl looked just like me, she was beautiful, amazing. We fell into each other’s arms, we hugged for a long time. It was incredible, but it was disturbing too,” she said.
She also revealed that neither of the girls have ever asked to be switched back, and the issue “never came up” between the two families.
The court awarded compensation to the sum of almost €2 million to the families this week.
