Girls Switched at Birth Are Happy Where They Are

It was a story that captivated the nation in 1995 — two babies accidentally switched at birth, then, after three years, forced by a judge's decision to stay with the families that had been raising them. Today those famous babies, Callie Johnson and Rebecca Chittum, are 18-year-old young women, and each says she is happy to have remained with the caregivers she knew. 

“I would not go back and change it,” Chittum, living in Virginia, tells the Daily Mail. “I am very happy I was switched at birth because I love the family I am with and if that didn’t happen then I wouldn’t know them.” 

Similarly, Johnson tells WTVR in Virginia (where she also lives) in a recent interview that she adores the mom who raised her. “She’s my best friend. She always has been,” she says. “And I can honestly say that.”

It’s not all that surprising, according to psychologists familiar with the case. “I think what this highlights is how much attachment really matters,” Dr. Nadine Kaslow, president elect of the American Psychological Association and professor of psychiatry at Emory University, tells Yahoo Shine.