Tests Confirm Virginia Girls Switched at Birth

September 3, 1998 - 0:0
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Genetic tests have confirmed that two newborn girls went home from a Virginia hospital three years ago with the wrong mothers, family attorneys said on Tuesday. "The switching incident at Uva. (University of Virginia) hospital has been confirmed by DNA testing," said Michael Irvine, a Buena Vista, Va., Attorney. The latest in a series of DNA tests found conclusively that one of the girls, Callie Johnson, is the biological daughter of Kevin Chittum and Whitney Rogers, a Buena Vista couple killed in a car accident on July 4. Earlier tests confirmed that the child they were raising, Rebecca Chittum, was the biological daughter of another woman, Paula Johnson, 30, of nearby Ruckersville, Va. The switch came to light after a judge ordered Johnson and her ex-boyfriend, Carlton Conley, to undergo DNA tests as part of a paternity suit. Those tests in July proved Johnson and Conley were not Callie Johnson's biological parents. A final DNA test is being conducted to determine if Conley is the biological father of Rebecca Chittum. Those test results are expected later this week, his attorney said. Rebecca has been cared for by her grandparents since she was orphaned in the car crash that killed her parents. Since the switch came to light, the families have vowed to raise the girls as part of an extended family and avoid potentially bitter court custody battles. "The (DNA test) results do not alter their commitment to keep Rebecca Chittum and Callie Conley in the surroundings with which they are most familiar," said Cynthia Johnson, Conley's attorney. She is not related to Paula Johnson. Johnson gave birth to her fourth child and only daughter on June 29, 1995. Rogers, then a 16-year old high school cheerleader, gave birth to her first child a day later, according to hospital records. Johnson left the hospital on July 1, but checked back in hours later when the girl she had taken home -- apparently belonging to Rogers -- was not feeding properly. Hospital staff apparently did not notice that the child Johnson brought back to the hospital weighed nearly two pounds less than the girl she gave birth to days earlier. The hospital said the switch could not have happened accidentally, mainly because of an identification system that includes numbered bands fitted on newborns and their parents that must be cut off after they leave the hospital. But Johnson has shown reporters uncut bands she said could be slipped on and off a newborn baby's wrist and ankles. The families are still mystified over how the babies were switched and are contemplating lawsuits against the hospital. "This is a long road to travel, but we still want answers from the hospital," Tommy Rogers, Rebecca's maternal grandfather said. "Anybody can make a mistake. Mistakes happen. You do something long enough there are going to be mistakes. I don't know if they'll ever come up with an answer." State police and health officials have launched separate investigations. (Reuters)