Families of two babies given to the wrong mothers awarded £1.5million in damages

The families of two babies given to the wrong mothers by an ‘alcoholic’ nurse two decades ago have been awarded almost £1.5million in damages.

The newborn girls were placed in the same incubator at a French clinic just before the blunder.

A paternity test uncovered the truth ten years ago, but the girls have stayed with their non- biological parents.

One of the mothers, Sophie Serrano, said: ‘I don’t see my biological daughter any more. 

'The social, educational and cultural differences between the two families added to the pain of our unconscious rivalry, took their toll on our relations.’

In a joint civil action, the families had demanded £10million from the maternity clinic, the doctors who supervised the two births, and the auxiliary nurse.

But a court in Grasse, southern France, yesterday awarded the smaller sum, with £300,000 to be given to each of the girls.

Three of the parents will get £220,000 each, while the girls’ three siblings will each receive £50,000.

The clinic in Cannes had admitted fault but blamed the accidental swap on a trainee nurse, who it said suffered from alcoholism.

Yesterday a clinic spokesman noted the ‘significant difference’ between the amount requested and the sum won.

One of the lawyers for the families said they would not be appealing, and added that they were ‘relieved that the court had recognised the clinic was responsible’.

The mistake came about after Mrs Serrano gave birth on July 4, 1994, to a daughter, whom she called Manon.

The baby was suffering from jaundice, so a day later she was placed in an incubator next to another girl, named Melanie, who also had jaundice. 

The condition causes the skin to become yellow, and the girls were treated using light from special lamps in the incubator. 

However, when they were returned to the wrong mothers, Mrs Serrano said her daughter’s skin seemed to be much darker than before.

Staff at the clinic dismissed her concerns, telling her that the difference was due to the incubator lamps. The girls were taken home by the unwitting parents and grew up 20 miles apart.

But Manon Serrano, now 20, said that as a child she was frequently teased in her village near Cannes about being the ‘postman’s daughter’ because she did not resemble her father.

He finally took a paternity test when Manon was ten.

It then emerged that not only was he not the biological father but Mrs Serrano was not her biological mother. Further inquiries revealed the clinic mix-up.

The two families met but are now estranged. The second family was also at court yesterday but has chosen to remain anonymous throughout the legal proceedings.

Manon Serrano has previously said: ‘They [the clinic] took my innocence away. They took away my dreams, my hopes, my desire to have children.’

Both sets of parents had originally pressed criminal charges against the clinic.

But because the swap had taken place more than a decade earlier, the case was dismissed under the statue of limitations. 

DailyMail