On a summer day in 1951, two baby girls were born in a hospital in small-town Wisconsin. The infants were accidentally switched, and went home with the wrong families. 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. How the truth changed two families' lives—and how it didn't.
Prologue.Host Ira Glass introduces four characters: Kay McDonald, who
raised a daughter named Sue, and Mary Miller, who raised a daughter named
Marti. In 1994, Mary Miller wrote letters to Sue and Marti, confessing the
secret she'd kept for 43 years: the daughters had been switched at birth and
raised by 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. (6 1⁄2 minutes)
Act One.
Reporter Jake Halpern tells the story of Marti Miller and Sue McDonald, the
daughters who were switched at birth, and the many complications that came
with learning the truth. Jake is writer whose books include Fame Junkies and Braving Home. (25 1⁄2 minutes)
Act Two.
Jake Halpern tells the mothers' sides of the story. At 69, Kay McDonald had
to cope not only with learning that her daughter wasn't her own, but that
another mother had known the whole time. And Mary Miller explains why she
was tormented by her secret but unable for decades to share it. (26 minutes)
Song: "Hello Mother," The Canton Spirituals