Paris: A French court on Tuesday ordered a clinic in the Riviera city of Cannes to pay out $450,000 each to two 20-year-old girls accidentally switched at birth and given to the wrong parents -- part of a $2.1 million payment to members of the two families.
The clinic's lawyer, Sophie Chas, said the court ordered payments by the Clinica Jourdan and an insurance company of $339,000 for each of three parents involved in the case and $68,000 for three brothers and sisters.
The families had originally sought a total of $13.6 million, but had little hope of getting that amount.
A nurse's assistant had accidentally given baby Manon Serrano, who was in an incubator, to another mother after her birth in July 1994, and given the infant next to her to Sophie Serrano.
Three years later, Manon's hair grew curly and her skin olive-toned -- unlike either parent. Her father separated from Sophie Serrano after rumours spread about the young girl being ‘the postman's daughter'. In 2004, DNA tests showed that Manon was the daughter of neither.
A probe was launched and their biological child was located -- some 300 km away. Sophie Serrano, who raised Manon, expressed relief that the error was at last acknowledged.
“It's a relief. We have waited for this for so long,” she said.
The other family involved in the case has chosen to remain anonymous.
