Two families have filed a lawsuit against Unity Medical Center after a Colorado man discovered through consumer genetic testing that the people who raised him are not his biological parents and says he and another man born the same day at the Grafton hospital were switched at birth.
How the case came to light
The claim emerged after Jeremy Morrison took a DNA test about two years ago and learned his parents were not his biological parents. Morrison told KKTV in Colorado Springs that he had long felt out of place in his family because of physical differences.
"I didn't have anyone that looked like me in my family," Morrison told the television station. "I was that blonde-haired kid that stood out in a family full of brown-haired people."
Morrison said his aunt provided a DNA sample that matched another man, Kyle Bylin, as her nephew. According to reporting by KKTV, both men were born on Jan. 26, 1988, at Unity Medical Center in Grafton, and Morrison believes the two were the only babies delivered there that day.
Hospital response and limits on records
Unity Medical Center has denied responsibility in court filings but acknowledged the unusual situation and the emotional impact on the families. The hospital said it is trying to better understand what occurred.
"Both men were born at our hospital on the same day in 1988, and we recognize the profound impact this discovery has had on them and their families," the hospital said in a statement to KKTV.
Unity Medical Center also told the television station that because nearly four decades have passed, the medical and staffing records that might clarify events no longer exist and that no members of the delivery team from that time remain employed at the facility.
Legal action and next steps
Litigation records show the two men and their parents have sued Unity Medical Center. Both sets of parents reportedly have since met their biological sons, though the two men at the center of the suit have not yet met each other, according to KKTV.
- Date of birth at issue: Jan. 26, 1988
- Discovery method: Consumer DNA testing (performed by one of the men)
- Hospital involved: Unity Medical Center, Grafton
At this stage the hospital says it has found no evidence that staff were responsible for the separation; the plaintiffs allege otherwise in court. The passage of time and the unavailability of contemporaneous records are likely to shape the legal and factual dispute as it moves through the courts.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Hospital | Unity Medical Center, Grafton, N.D. |
| Birth date | Jan. 26, 1988 |
| Complaint filed by | Two men and their families (litigation records) |
This case raises questions about long-term medical record preservation, hospital policies, and how modern genetic testing can upend family narratives decades after birth. As the lawsuit proceeds, Unity Medical Center and the plaintiffs will likely provide additional documentation and testimony that may clarify what occurred in Grafton in 1988.
Local readers with connections to the hospital from that era may also have information relevant to the case; however, at this time the hospital says no delivery-team members from 1988 remain on staff, and the relevant records reportedly are not available.
News Block will continue to follow developments in the lawsuit and any statements from Unity Medical Center or court filings that shed more light on the allegations.
