this american life switched at birth transcript this american life switched at birth transcript

And like my dad said, you know, you are my child. My mom said, oh, well, you just take after great-grandpa this or aunt so-and-so. And I'm sorry for her. The infants were accidentally switched, and went home with the wrong families. This week's entire show is devoted to the story of Mary Miller's secret and what happened when both families finally learned the truth. And the family's relationship with Dr. Deathlok was no small thing, either. We love you, Martha Jane-- I'm sorry. Of course, the dead time for doing that. Before the letter arrived, the facts of Sue's life, it seemed pretty orderly. This American Life: Switched at Birth Ep. I really only thought about that one time. Back in 1994-- this is back in the days when people still delivered big news to each other by mail-- two women who barely knew each other, Martha Miller and Susan McDonald, got a letter from Martha's mom. Bay Kennish grew up in a wealthy family with two parents and a brother, while Daphne Vasquez, who lost her hearing as a child due to a case of meningitis, grew up with a single mother in a poor neighborhood. Now this you tell who that is. Where? The same plot device appears in the Freeform TV series Switched at Birth, which aired its series finale in April after five seasons. I mean, I knew that were things I couldn't do and. Back next week with more stories of "This American Life.". But even she never divulged the secret to Bob or any of the McDonald's. Just out of curiosity, what was your room like? And in the meantime, I had gotten phone calls from people I didn't even know that were telling me, you know, hey, I'm your brother. Switched at Birth: Created by Lizzy Weiss. She was a married mother of three living in Michigan, where her husband worked as a chemist. So let's take them one by one, starting with Sue, Mrs. Miller's baby, who was raised by the McDonalds. Her house is filled with the remnants of her and Norbert's life together in the church. Johnny Dodd Published on April 13, 2022 01:15 PM One afternoon in the summer of 2019, Tina Ennis realized her life would never be the same again as she sat in a diner near her home in Hobart,. I mean, that's my biological family. To keep the memory of those baby. I mean, I'd say, gee, guess what, Bob? I was sure then that there had been a mix-up. Probably Martha with her happy-go-lucky nature could take the climate of the Miller home better. No, no, no. This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Having the two of them so near each other was a little awkward. The sickness, she said, lasted for six or seven months. Mr. Miller died in 2000. And basically-- and this is going to sound like kind of a small thing, but it was a big thing to me-- she circled the names of people that were participating in the program. They understand why she didn't speak out sooner. Our other children were very serious. She's a very busy gal and I was not having that much communication with her. I have much anguish and many tears, but I feel I must get this out in the open so you to know how wonderful that you both are, Christians and great workers in the church. That's what I'm talking about. It's for your child. And until that time, we just talked all the time. It was the first I had ever heard anything about it. She'd also moved out of Wisconsin-- in her case, to Southern California. And the moment he saw her, he knew that she was his biological daughter. Here's Bob McDonald who remember, was having these great phone calls with his newfound sister. Marti eventually decided that the only way she was going to resolve this was by getting on a plane and flying out to Wisconsin to meet the McDonalds face to face and give them a real chance to get to know her. So then you had to go through the register to get to the bathroom. S5 E5: Occupy Truth. And he just I think he honestly never thought it was a possibility. Florida Woman Who Was Switched at Birth Opens Up About Her Life Post-Scandal: 'I Couldn't Handle the Resentment' In 1989, Kimberly Mays became a media sensation when genetic tests revealed. There is so much going on with the hospital switch, new boyfriends every week, friend drama, sport drama, parental drama, rebelling drama mixed in with occasional sign language use and . So she's excited about it. So he didn't know what to do. I don't care whether my husband objected or not, I. I feel like I should have made it a wrong into a right. invite research legit; orange county police department california; hydra stop brake booster Your service title . I only let myself think about it one time. And as that baby, Sue, grew up, the one thing that puzzled Kay was that Mrs. Miller, whom she knew only vaguely from church, seemed so interested in Sue. Marty shared a bed with her sister Faith and had to crawl through this vent to get to the bathroom at night because faith would block the doorway to the hall. She even had the exact same oil painting hanging on her wall in California as they had in their living room, a landscape with trees and water. . Mark Twain. I thought I was losing both of them. And I said, I don't know. They said that was a cop out. We'll keep her. This week's podcast recommendations are my favourite episodes of This American Life, you're . And then he danced with my cousin. Bob is four and 1/2 years older than Sue, a sweet, jovial guy, who never got along with his broody little sister. She said she was really live like he always had jokes. In fact, she seemed to have a tin ear for the whole thing. Kay McDonald began getting notes and phone calls from Reverend Miller. It wouldn't work. The Millers wanted to incorporate her family into our family as quickly as they could and. When I hear this episode now, what hits me honestly is how cunningly structured thing is where where you hear about the mom from all these other people before you ever hear from her and then how your picture of her changes once you actually hear her. She also had an older brother, Bob, named after their dad. When she got on the phone, I was just totally blown away, by the way, she pronounced her words were identical with the way my mother talked. Yeah, what was your room like? Here is how Mrs. Miller explained that in the letter. Weeks went by and Sue began to fret. She also had an older brother, Bob, named after their dad. He danced with her. But overall, the Millers seem giddy that their daughter has finally come home. So it's a birthday present. I guess you can understand. Dear Sue, I'm writing you this short note to officially give you my welcome to this Miller family and relationship. Jun And of course, Marti didn't really call a whole lot. Mr. McDonald had a bad heart and she didn't know what the stress would do to him. She's part of that odd family. But it took a while for us to-- how are you going to think? She didn't question that every day she was at the hospital. Slowly, anger began to set in. Because Mrs. Miller didn't want cross her husband, all she could do was hope that maybe if she dropped enough hints, calling the girls sisters and such, Kay would eventually realize on her own what had happened. And Mary Miller explains why she was tormented by her secret but unable for decades to share it. And the family never went on vacation or even to the movies. And then after I knew that they were. Do you have a second? She was close to her mother. My sister Faith called. Yes. And every time I talked to him, he'd say, oh, it's all right, it'll be all right. On one Sunday, they got their boyfriends to drive them 17 miles away to the McDonald's church in Prairie du Chien. You know, I asked my mother, I said, am I adopted? She's with us. And she circled my brother's name and said, this is your brother like Bob. She was close to her mother. The TV series "Switched at Birth" aired on the Freeform network from 2011 to 2017. But that's all she said. But even she never divulged the secret to Bob or any of the McDonalds. Marti was also married, also had three kids. Anyway, here's the story. She wanted to be a part of a big family. And I felt excluded. Kay was a Methodist and the Millers were evangelicals. One of the mothers realized the mistake but chose to keep quiet until the day, more than 40 years later, when she decided to tell both daughters what happened. Martha excelled in music, was a great cheerleader at school, very popular, and a blonde. I just couldn't do it. It's a little late for your child. Mrs. Miller arranged for the McDonalds to come to dinner. She focused on the facts of the situation, maybe hoping she could fix things by simply setting the record straight. Your service title Give us a brief description of the service that you are promoting. Earlier this month, Sue's daughter got married in Michigan. And I thought she even walks like Mary. I tried out for cheerleading, I just couldn't do it, you know, I didn't get picked. And the purpose of this letter is that Mrs. Miller is breaking the news-- 43 years after the fact-- to Martha and Sue that she took the wrong baby home from the hospital, that Martha and Sue were switched at birth, that she's not Martha's biological mom, she's Sue's. In the show, one teen from a wealthy family discovers that. And my mother's like, what happened to my life? She could have been my aunt or my mother talking on the phone. Mrs. Miller has, for 43 years, been longing to see the child she'd given birth to. He told her that he thought it was God's will that this had happened. And she was talking about the way her mother would talk to her. They knew Reverend Miller. Mrs. Miller's husband, the Reverend Norbert Miller, was an evangelical preacher, devoted to the church. So I never will probably understand why. Besides her, there was Mary, Lydia, Faith, Ruth, Sonny, Luke and Esther. Well, my sisters had this crazy thing going on when they were when Faith was a teenager, she would push the dresser and the cedar chest against the door. And I said, Who told you to say that? And that was odd, very odd. They said that was a cop-out. Before she found out the truth about who her mother really was, Marti's life wasn't all that different from Sue's. Bay grew up in a wealthy family while Daphne, who lost her hearing as a child, was raised by a single mom in a working class neighborhood. I thought that was strange. In junior high, I remember my friend said to me, you must be adopted, because you do not look at all like your parents. She didn't fit in. And and I'm really like that to. best time of year to see turtles in oahu. Well, when your husband said to you, this baby's cute, let's keep it. It took an awful long time and I'm sorry for. She had given birth two years prior, to a girl. But it was just it took a while for us to. That's how Mrs. Miller kept track of Sue. I didn't even dance with you. I didn't have a doubt in my mind. There were also some definite deficits. And he said, why wouldn't you have told me that? Yes, I did. Hardy says her mom, Mrs. Miller, sees the world in black and white, she focused on the facts of the situation, maybe hoping she could fix things by simply setting the record straight. I'm really a Miller. Never had that happen with any of our others. Occasionally, she'd break down and cry. Marty worked all of her adult life and still does as a nurse. And so while Seward figured everyone would choose Marty, the outgoing cheerleader, over her, it didn't work out that way. this american life switched at birth transcript. Here's Jake Halpern. mary steenburgen photographic memory. Jun, 05, 2022 Mr MacDonald's health didn't allow it. But there's no question, things have gotten better between the two girls and their moms. What if the McDonalds had just taken me home and I'd grown up in the house with my biological parents and my biological brother, who would I be? They get together at Bob and McDonald's house didn't go exactly as she wanted. There are birthdays and graduations and figuring out where to spend holidays. What would happen if you suddenly took a six month old away from the only mother she knew? It didn't bother me, because I couldn't see any merit to it. The nurses brought her the same baby girl. As years went by, when there were family events with everyone, Sue would get anxious if Marty was there to. She says there's Sue walking down the center aisle. I guess you can't understand. From Marti's perspective, the genetic counselor's prediction from years before seemed to be coming true, and it felt like she was losing both her mothers. Because he told me, you know, well, I don't care what anybody says from as far as I'm concerned, you're not really Ruth's sister. A week or so after the baby's birth, I was reaching for something way back in the attic closet and started to hemorrhage, then went into convulsions, back to the hospital for several days and despair for my life. When Kay's church was celebrating its 150th anniversary, for instance, Kay was chairperson for the event. This is my brother. She said everybody at church, after having seen Marti beside the rest of the family, just couldn't believe that that was their child. He's a roustabout. If you're ever curious as to what they were, I would be very willing to fill you in. He didn't dance with me. At first, they refused to believe her, but then she told them about the blood tests. What that meant was that after Chemical finally found out the truth in 1994, people started coming up to her in church, mostly casually mentioning that they'd known about it all along. So you fully appreciate the parents who raised you. Why did she listen to her husband back in 1951? You know, you were not adopted. Blood tests were done with the Millers and they proved Mrs. Miller was right about the switch. They say they're not angry with her. He did not want her to push me out of the family. They had dogs and raised angora rabbits. And as you heard in the letter, one thing that makes this whole thing even stranger is that the two couples knew each other. And I felt excluded. (26 minutes). But even if it did happen, there was no way to prove it. She wasn't trying to be hurtful. And we think so much alike. She worried her mother might reject her. Sue now had four new sisters and two new brothers. Everyone had to work. In fact, that's true. Here's Marty. Neither Sue nor Marty blames Mrs. Miller for going along with her husband. ( 1991-04-28) Switched at Birth is a 1991 American miniseries directed by Waris Hussein. Switched at Birth. But then Mrs. Miller told me more her side of this story. The nurse weighed the baby and must have left her in the delivery room until after Kay's baby was born. We love you, Martha Jane, as dearly as our other six children. So then I thought, well, OK, then it's not so bad. And before he starts, just to help you keep everybody straight in this story, a quick overview of the two families. Even if she could somehow convince everyone it was true, what would happen if you suddenly took a six-month-old away from the only mother she knew? So at this point, you're probably wondering, why in the world didn't Mrs. Miller straighten this out quicker? At one point toward the end of the party, as Sue stood nearby, Marti started talking about the room that she had grown up in in the Miller household. Tells the story of two teen girls who discover that they were accidentally switched at birth. This doctor had been so kind to us and good to us. Sue now had four new sisters and two new brothers, and the Millers show her pictures of her other relatives. How did you feel when he said this was God's will? No, I didn't. Switched at Birth. And Mrs. Miller said to me, did you ever think that our girls were switched at birth? Here she is. They decided that Ruth ought to have a look too. That's how long it took her to sort out her feelings. She didn't fit in. [1] NBC aired the production as a two-part miniseries over two consecutive nights on . And this whole crop of people knew, but never said anything to Kay McDonald. He explained things like why all those years ago he refused to return to the hospital and switch back the babies. When Sue got married, for instance, the Millers gave her a trivett Norbert had made the card was signed from your other possible parents. And Marti refused to believe it at that point. I mean, I'd say, gee, guess what, Bob, I don't think your sister is yours. All the girls were in the same room. She figured if she could simply get Kay to look at Marti, Kay would figure things out. He went to Oregon to get away from a got a girl in trouble. Yes I did. Mr. Miller died in 2000. And she's going to get this popular Marti, who's so fun-loving and looks like her. The fact is Mrs. Miller longed for Sue for her biological daughter ever since she realized the mistake back in 1951, but it seemed futile trying to convince her husband, Norbert. Probably the Ladies Aid, maybe, you know, the little group that got together. Because he told me, well, I don't care what anybody says. And so, of course, he was trying to get me to say that I had forgiven them. Our services run deep and are backed by over ten years of experience. But the good part about that was when I got home from the wedding and my brother called me and he said, you know what? And when you get this kind of news as an adult that your mom isn't really your mom or your daughter isn't really your daughter. She grew up with Sue, after all, and she's not actually related to her or to her kids. I didn't get picked. And as Ruth and Faith saw it, it wasn't their place to mess in their parents' affairs, which is why, when her husband Rudy blurted it out a few years later, Ruth was so shocked. I said, am I adopted? My dad right there who looks happy. Lydia would make a good twin to her. Sarah Koenig, who was then a this American Life producer and who went on to host Syria, she was reporter Jake Halpern's producer for the story and was so instrumental in shaping how it works on the air in addition to the amazing reporting that Jake did. Once things calmed down, Sue came to two conclusions. And he says, this is a nice little baby. One of her older sisters, Ruth, came to visit with her husband Rudy. I mean, the my kids are all serious about their life yet, no, they're more like I am before when I'd asked you if you thought it was God's will. I tried out for cheerleading. Well, sure, I guess, yeah, a little bit of guilt, but it's not my it's not my fault. She didn't have the Sociales that came so naturally to Bob and Marty. I don't know why they didn't notice that. It's sad that it happened. He danced with everyone. I feel like I should have made a wrong into a right. 43:33. They were easygoing quick to laugh and joke around. This American Life often broadcasts short fiction or essays that touch on absurd or deeply imaginative, but this single-story episode proved that sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction. Part of me really doesn't want to know because I think I would feel left out of something. And I don't know that she was as excited about it as I was. Archive; Recommended; How to Listen; . So then I just forgot about the whole thing. They were easygoing, quick to laugh and joke around. All the Millers were invited and all the McDonalds were to Marty considered whether she should go. She was losing blood and having spasms. One thing Mrs. Miller doesn't regret is raising Marti. I think you know that you will always be our daughter, but I thought each of you should know your biological and spiritual backgrounds. Neither Sue nor Marti blames Mrs. Miller for going along with her husband. Even if she could somehow convince everyone it was true. And I was kind of stunned. She wasn't malicious. For Sue, her brother's enthusiasm for Marti brought out every insecurity she suffered as a schoolgirl. I don't know how I would have survived. From WBEZ Chicago, it's "This American Life." Back to the hospital for several days and despair for my life. For the longest time, whenever she would write to me, she would include McDonald in my name. I love you both. S1 E3 - Portrait of My Father Bay begins to ask questions about her biological father. I mean, that was right. I don't have any idea. And I was in the hallway and Mrs. Miller said to me, Did you ever think that our girls were switched at birth? I didn't have anything to do with it. Blood tests were done with the Millers and they proved Mrs. Miller was right about the switch. Her name is also Sue. Almost 25 years to the day after the student protest at Gallaudet University began in 1988, ABC Family's 'Switched at Birth' features a storyline about a deaf student uprising in an episode . She was just tired of secrets. Shut up. And all needed glasses for nearsightedness, Martha did not need glasses. If you're just tuning in, Jake Halpern is telling the story this hour of two girls switched at birth. Marty wrote a letter to Kay and Bob McDonald, her biological parents. I wanted him to agree with me. I'm IRA Glass back next week with more stories. And he did, in fact, say some hurtful things. On a summer day in 1951, two baby girls were born in a hospital in small-town Wisconsin. Our senior producer for this episode is Julie Snyder, music from Jessica Hopper. There is no gray area. It's hard enough to learn that your mother isn't your mother, but it's even harder when that news is delivered by someone like Mrs. Miller. It's hard enough to learn that your mother isn't your mother, but it's even harder when that news is delivered by someone like Mrs. Miller. And I'm not one to borrow trouble. And at any point during this time, does it cross your mind, well, why don't we just ask Mom and Dad about this? Well, sure, I guess, a little built of guilt, but it's not my fault. The Millers didn't have much money and they might not have been able to afford the health care otherwise. Why the big concern about disgracing the doctor over, you know, having the wrong baby? Kay McDonald and the Millers eventually reached a kind of detente. She's a very busy gal, and I was not having that much communication with her. But even if it did happen, there is no way to prove it. They say they're not angry with her. That's Sue. Having two sets of parents and two full sets of siblings and cousins is kind of a practical headache. I'm Ira Glass. In fact, we were even weren't even sure we'd have another child, so of course, we were elated when I did get pregnant and and then to think that I didn't get to raise the one that I had wanted to so much and. If you're just tuning in, Jake Halpern is telling the story this hour of two girls switched at birth. So of course, we were elated when I did get pregnant. Sue dismissed it as part of the whole sister thing, which she also thought was kind of weird. She lives by herself in the country. Yeah, whatever. Kay McDonald is still tight with Sue, the daughter she raised, but she's also much closer with Marty. That's how Mrs. Miller kept track of Sue over the years. Both children eventually got married and had their own children and grandchildren. And then she's going to say, well, I don't need that daughter anymore. Incredibly, when Marti was 21 years old, someone actually told her that she might not be a Miller. It's all pretty straightforward.