STAVANGER, Norway — In 1965, a woman in Norway gave birth to a baby girl at a private hospital. After seven days, she returned home with her newborn. As the baby grew, she developed a head of dark curls that made her look distinct from both her mother and father. Rafteseth Dokken, the mother, assumed her daughter had simply inherited traits from her husband’s family.
However, it took nearly six decades to uncover a startling truth: Dokken’s biological daughter had been accidentally switched at birth with another baby girl in the maternity ward of the hospital located in central Norway. The child she raised, named Mona, was not her biological offspring. The two girls—one born on February 14 and the other on February 15, 1965—are now 59 years old and are together suing the state and municipality in Oslo District Court.
The lawsuit commenced on Monday, with the plaintiffs asserting that their human rights were compromised when the authorities discovered the mix-up during the girls’ teenage years but chose not to disclose it. They contend that the Norwegian authorities violated their right to family life, a principle upheld by the European Convention on Human Rights, and are seeking an apology along with compensation for their experiences. Upon learning of the switch, 78-year-old Rafteseth Dokken was visibly emotional as she recounted how her life had unfolded with the wrong child. “I never thought Mona was not my daughter. She was named Mona after my mother,” she shared during the court proceedings.
Mona reflected on her childhood, describing a pervasive feeling of not fitting in that ultimately led her to take a DNA test in 2021, which confirmed she was not biologically related to the family that raised her. In contrast, Linda Karin Risvik Gotaas, who was raised as the other baby, had been aware of her non-biological status since a blood test in 1981. However, the woman raising her did not pursue further investigations, and although the mix-up was reported to health authorities in 1985, the involved families were not informed.
Both women have expressed that while the revelation of the switched identities was shocking, it helped clarify many aspects of their lives, reconciling various discrepancies in appearance and character. Kristine Aarre Haanes, Mona’s legal representative, stated that the state “violated her right to her own identity for all these years” by keeping this crucial information hidden. As a result, Mona did not learn about her true parentage until she was 57, a situation compounded by the fact that her biological father had passed away, and she was out of touch with her biological mother.
The circumstances surrounding the birth mix-up at Eggesboenes hospital remain unclear; media coverage has suggested that there were several similar incidents occurring at this hospital during the 1950s and 1960s, when babies were often placed together while their mothers rested separately. In many cases, these errors were noticed before the children were permanently assigned to the incorrect families.
Officials from the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services expressed that the state was unaware of additional cases like this and have indicated that there are no plans to launch a public inquiry. Asgeir Nygaard, representing the Norwegian government, is contesting the case on the basis that the switch happened in a private facility, claiming that the health directorate during the 1980s lacked the authority to inform involved families after identifying the mix-up. “Documentation from that time suggests that officials found the evaluations difficult due to legal ambiguities about their responsibilities,” he noted in a statement prior to the trial’s initiation. The defense will argue that the claims for compensation lack legal standing and are barred by the statute of limitations.
The trial is set to continue through Thursday, although it remains uncertain when a ruling will be made.