Chinese women switched at birth, grew up 4km apart

Two Chinese women, born in 1988, discovered later they had been switched at birth. But here is the interesting part: They lived just four kilometer apart, almost four decades; a straight-out movie plot.

Huang Xiaolin and Li Hui were born 55 minutes apart at Qingyuan People’s Hospital in Qingyuan, Guangdong province, in 1989, the South China Morning Post reported.

At the time of birth, the babies were presented to their respective mothers briefly before being placed in the nursery. The reason for the mixup is unclear. Huang was brought up in a comfortable household since her adoptive parents were government employees.

Her adoptive father noticed that she had a different blood type and didn’t look a little like him, which led him to suspect his wife of infidelity. The couple later divorced when Huang was five, leaving her in the care of her adoptive mother.

Huang was distant from her adoptive father. In 2022, she took a DNA test only to learn that neither the father nor the mother were her biological parents.

With police assistance, Huang traced her biological parents and found that Li was the other woman involved in the mix-up.

Li was brought up by a family that ran a small grocery store. During her primary school years, her adoptive father lost the family’s savings in an investment scam, forcing her parents to depend on odd jobs. 

She later dropped out of secondary school to support her family and worked as a tour guide, hotel receptionist and salesperson.

Years of long hours and financial strain affected Li’s health. She developed a blood disorder and underwent surgery to remove her thyroid.

The women met for the first time at a cafe, and both described the meeting as “nervous, exciting, and slightly awkward.” She was surprised to know that her biological parents lived 4 kilometres away from her and wondered how different life could have been.

 Li said her adoptive mother had no pension and still depended on her support, while Huang’s adoptive mother did not want to disrupt the other family’s life.