12-Year-Old Girls Learn They Were Switched At Birth

When Yuliya Belyaeva got divorced earlier this year, her ex-husband refused to pay child support because he insisted their 12-year-old daughter Irina looked nothing like him. A paternity test revealed that he isn’t related to the girl — and neither is Yuliya. Irina was switched at birth with another baby in the hospital.

Yuliya located her biological daughter, Anya, and now both families are suing the hospital. The situation is even more complicated because Irina was raised Russian Orthodox and Anya’s family is Muslim, so they have “completely different traditions and customs.” Yuliya says the girls will visit their biological parents, but, “Neither child wants to leave their home. Irina keeps saying to me: ‘Mum, please don’t give me away!’ I comfort her by saying: ‘I would never do anything against your wishes. Nothing has changed. I’m still your mother.”