this american life switched at birth transcript

From Marty's perspective, the genetic counselor's prediction from years before seemed to be coming true, it felt like she was losing both her mother's. Occasionally she'd break down and cry. Nothing seemed to miss to her. She even had the exact same oil painting hanging on her wall in California as they had in their living room, a landscape with trees and water. And that's where it might have ended if it hadn't been for Mrs. Miller's letter a decade later. Jun, 05, 2022 A different kind of #MeToo story, about several women who worked for the same man. Switched at Birth is about two teen girls and their families . Store; Subscribe to our newsletter. It's pretty rare that Marty and Sue actually meet face to face once every few years, they get together for a large family gathering a wedding, a graduation, a funeral. Bay grew up in a wealthy family while Daphne, who lost her hearing as a child, was raised by a single mom in a working class neighborhood. Martha did not need glasses. The other mother, Kay McDonald, had no idea. She. Sue now had four new sisters and two new brothers. One of her older sisters, Ruth, came to visit with her husband Rudy. He was popular and I wasn't. Why did she listen to her husband back in 1951? Instead, they were all taught to paint and encouraged to play music. [1] People were definitely aware whenever both women were in the same room. When I hear this episode now, what hits me honestly is how cunningly structured thing is where where you hear about the mom from all these other people before you ever hear from her and then how your picture of her changes once you actually hear her. Well, my sisters had this crazy thing going on when Faith was a teenager. Marty worked all of her adult life and still does as a nurse. So I passed it off. Paul Zimmer is eighty-three years old now, and hes still haunted by something he saw in his teens. 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. At 69, Kay McDonald had to cope not only with the news that her daughter wasn't her own, but that another mother had known the whole time. Maybe because some of the Miller girls had suspected that she was their sister for decades and because Mrs. Miller always knew the truth, Sue was being embraced completely by the Miller clan. What does she think of me? This American Life: Switched at Birth Ep. The sickness, she said, lasted for six or seven months by the time she was, well, fixing the baby's, which problem was that much harder. It was the four women at the center of all this. But in the end, she made the trip because she's a Miller and so is Sue and she's a McDonald and so is Sue. All sorts of interesting people came to the house, guests from out of town and missionaries. whag news team; enfield planning application database; dina superstore autistic; bohr was able to explain the spectra of the; this american life switched at birth transcript. It exploded. By the time she was five or six, there wasn't much money around. And she kept it quiet all those years. Yes, and quoting scriptures all the time for me to read to console me. Kay McDonald and the Millers eventually reached a kind of detente. She didn't grow up with Sue, after all, and she's not actually related to her or to her kids. And my mother's like, what happened to my life? And and of course, I was very busy because I was chairperson and I had so many other things to do. My name is Bob McDonald and I am 61 years old. Yeah, so it's a birthday present. I was just horrified and and he didn't tell me ahead of time, it just came out with it. Four Ages in Life. In fact, it was the exact opposite. I don't even know who they are. She had both families wanting to make sure that she was included in their family. I just thought it was odd that so many people would know in a town of our size, which is like 5,500 people, when that many people were aware of it, that the news didn't get to us. Happy 43rd birthday to you too. He was popular. This doctor had been so kind to us and good to us. this american life switched at birth transcriptsour milk bread recipes no yeastsour milk bread recipes no yeast Yes. We had a baby scale at home. I mean, that was right. And he said, well, I wouldn't disgrace the doctor by telling him he gave us the wrong baby. It didn't bother me, because I couldn't see any merit to it. She lives by herself in the country. And and I'm really like that to. Until the day, more than 40 years later, when she decided to tell both daughters what happened. And my own bed, too, everything. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print. And it was then that I started thinking, oh, my gosh, my life would have been so different. Watch full episodes Switched at Birth through DIRECTV today! Norbert and I had a good time while we were together, but. As far as I'm concerned, you're not really Ruth's sister. So that was that. She was close to her mother. There is so much going on with the hospital switch, new boyfriends every week, friend drama, sport drama, parental drama, rebelling drama mixed in with occasional sign language use and . Find ratings and reviews for the newest movie and TV shows. And there were a lot of kids, two seven kids in all the McDonald's are the white haired ones in the letter. Yes, I did. That could be her. And it is a much smaller family, just two kids. But that's all she said. They started talking on the phone a lot. Thanks, as always, to our program's co-founder Mr. Torey Malatia. This American Life, I'm IRA Glass. On a summer day in 1951, two baby girls were born in a hospital in small-town Wisconsin. "I want you to know that I will accept whatever contact you choose to have with me, even if it's none at all. And so, of course, he was trying to get me to say that I had forgiven them. I love you both. Kay McDonald is still tight with Sue, the daughter she raised, but she's also much closer with Marti. It was actually right after I met them. He danced with Marti. That's how long it took her to sort out her feelings. But even if it did happen, there was no way to prove it. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. Incredibly, when Marti was 21 years old, someone actually told her that she might not be a Miller. And I said, would you have believed me? She was working for a group of pediatricians, which included a genetic counselor. Kay McDonald began getting notes and phone calls from Reverend Miller. He was he, in fact, would call me and tell me, you know, I don't care what she says. Would make a good twin to her. There were a few years there. Mrs. Miller has, for 43 years, been longing to see the child she'd given birth to. They were nice enough when she spoke to them on the phone, but they weren't exactly welcoming her into the family. Rest, fluids, medication to lower the fever. Mrs. Miller would do or say things concerning the girls, things that just seem strange to Kay. When Marty showed up at the house for brunch the day after the wedding, she couldn't have seemed more at home with the family that she didn't meet until her 40s. What if the switch hadn't been made, but if the McDonald's had just taken me home and I had grown up in the house with my biological parents, my biological brother, who would I be? ", So she's basically saying to you, you may have actually gotten a break here being in the family that--. One thing Mrs. Miller doesn't regret is raising Marti. She worried her mother might reject her. Our other children were very serious. A month after she got the letter, Sue went to see her biological mother and father. Mrs. Miller's most ambitious scheme happened after the girls graduated from high school when they were about to be 18. She told the counselor her story and said she wanted to get blood tests done. And of course, I thought that was foolish. They decided that Ruth ought to have a look to so the two girls cooked up a reconnaissance mission on one Sunday, they got their boyfriends to drive them 17 miles away to the McDonald's church in Prairie Dasheen. She turns the groom and handed Bob's older son a present for his baby. But the good part about that was when I got home from the wedding, and my brother called me, and he said, you know what? Wow, that could be her. Marti shared a bed with her sister, Faith, and had to crawl through this vent to get to the bathroom at night, because Faith would block the doorway to the hall. Well, of course, they were really clamoring to get to know her. I've forgiven them, but that doesn't mean that I've forgotten. Oh, yeah. Was there ever a time when you thought back and thought, I should have stood my ground more with him on that? Martha excelled in music, was a great cheerleader at school, very popular, and a blonde. Her mother ran a disciplined household. Oh, yeah. And as that baby Sue grew up, the one thing that puzzled Kaye was that Mrs. Miller, whom she knew only vaguely from church, seemed so interested in Sue. She wanted to be a part of a big family. So there would have been no proof. Later that same day, Sue drove to the McDonald's to the parents she'd grown up with. She would push the dresser and the cedar chest against the door. She's a very busy gal and I was not having that much communication with her. And then they go right to do that. At just 20, Rita knew what she was in for. When Kay's church was celebrating its 150 year anniversary, for instance, Kay was chairperson for the event. She knew it the day she got home from the hospital in 1951, that she had the wrong baby, a baby born to a woman named Kay McDonald. In fact, my mother said, well, just don't tell anybody. All sorts of interesting people came to the house, guests from out of town and missionaries. So you look like her, too? She didn't have the social ease that came so naturally to Bob and Marti. It's for your child. He's just outright he's just saying, can you forgive me just just like that on the telephone. Switched at Birth. Yes. Earlier this month, Sue's daughter got married in Michigan. In fact, when I would go down and have any touch with the McDonalds-- we got introduced to them-- I tried to talk to her about it. I thought it was just Rudy being Rudy. Coming up, what it's like to be a mom and to learn at the age of 69 that your only daughter isn't actually your daughter at all. I felt they were trying to take her away from us. Robert Mays' first wife Barbara died not long after when little Kimberly was just two years old. How did you feel when he said this was God's will? They were easygoing, quick to laugh and joke around. And so I kind of made a promise to myself that I would just never go down that road again, that I was just not going to go there. How did you feel when he said this was God's will? S5 . No, no, no. So of course, we were elated when I did get pregnant. Our services run deep and are backed by over ten years of experience. And there were a lot of kids too. I think little children take care of. Thanks, and Jesus lead you in this time. Sometimes my mom thinks I'm a little fanatical. (26 minutes). This is the daughter that actually was in you. I mean, are there times when you when you feel a little bit guilty about kind of having lucked out with the home that was, you know, maybe a little bit easier to grow up in? It's this American Life. And then he danced with my cousin. There were also some definite deficits. And I can't tell you how hard it was, but it was hard on me all along. That's just how she is. Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin is back in the spotlight on ABC Family's "Switched at Birth," which will have its winter premiere on Tuesday. This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. So, no, I didn't because it was always just a rumor. But overall, the Millers seem giddy that their daughter has finally come home and Sue seems eager to know them. Darlene Wolfgram did tell her daughter, though. Marti wrote a letter to Kay and Bob McDonald, her biological parents. Never had that happen with any of our others. And yes, Sue was different from the rest of the family in certain ways, dark and tall and skinny in a family that was none of those. I'm gonna join the Buckner team. I couldn't believe that Because I don't have that feeling about-- I don't think God punishes us in any way. And I really didn't know anything about the McDonald's. Is my brother going to care to even see me anymore? This American Life. It took an awful long time and I'm sorry for. I knew there were things that I couldn't do and keep his friendship, you know, if I turned against him, like on that. Marti says her mom, Mrs. Miller, sees the world in black and white. Wow, wow. IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. They say they're not angry with her. I thought it was just Rudy being Rudy, you know, he just has crazy ideas and he dreams these things up. I didn't even dance with you. Mrs. Miller arranged for the McDonalds to come to dinner. Back to the hospital for several days and despair for my life. Marti eventually decided that the only way she was going to resolve this was by getting on a plane and flying out to Wisconsin to meet the McDonalds face to face and give them a real chance to get to know her. This is a videotape of that first meeting. 10. Do let me hear from you. There was nothing any further. I didn't think it was right to do that. The five girls shared one bedroom. We'll keep her. If she still believes she's my sister, that's good. And I wanted to be a cheerleader. And then there was the blondness and the perkiness and the socializing. And know you have mixed feelings about this revelation. This American Life is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago . Two teenage girls' lives are turned upside down when they find out they were switched at birth. His heart was elsewhere. At the hospital in 1951, Kay McDonald was told that she'd given birth to a nine-pound, four-ounce baby. A couple of them, including Ruth, had vague memories of their parents talking about it after they brought Marty home from the hospital about how this baby looked different from Mrs. Miller's other babies and that maybe this baby had been switched. I remember my friend said to me, you must be adopted because you do not look at all like your parents. And she said, oh, no, no. But it took a while for us to-- how are you going to think? And then he danced with my cousin. But he had everybody convinced, I think, that it was God's will. Then he started asking me what I knew about the McDonalds. It's before kindergarten, so it's OK. Yeah. Text. I mean, that's my biological family. The nurse weighed the baby and must have left her in the delivery room until after Kay's baby was born. It wouldn't work. One mother, Mary Miller, knew and kept it a secret. this american life switched at birth transcript Posted at 16:45h in logan sargeant family by nerf gun obstacle course rental near me examples of olympic values Likes She remembers washing and drying all the dishes by the time she was five or six. I felt they were trying to take her away from us. She denied, she says, oh, no, no, that's not true. And I am 61 years old. She knew it the day she got home from the hospital in 1951 that she had the wrong baby, a baby born to a woman named Kay McDonald. They were easygoing quick to laugh and joke around. It's sad that it happened. The infants were accidentally switched, and went home with the wrong families. The church was the center of their lives and the family never went on vacation or even to the movies. She wasn't malicious. But it was hard, Marti says, to be on the receiving end of this sudden adamant truth-telling. And I really didn't know anything about the McDonalds. You know, to run a big radio station was not always the dream job that he wanted. When I weighed the baby, she weighed two and 1/2 pounds less than her birth weight. On one Sunday, they got their boyfriends to drive them 17 miles away to the McDonald's church in Prairie du Chien. The nurse weighed the baby and must have left her in the delivery room until after Kay's baby was born very soon after mine. She brought happiness. Fiction featuring this soap operaish plot :] flag. So it's a birthday present. Back in 1994, this is back in the days when people still delivered big news to each other by mail to women who barely knew each other, Martha Miller and Susan McDonald got a letter from Martha's mom. Were you afraid of Norburg at all? It's all your fault. I was shy or I was whatever. S1 E2 - American Gothic The parents navigate the new living situation; Daphne hangs out with Liam. Everybody's smiling. Switched At Birth didn't escape the norm, and the two main actresses were far from being teens when the show premiered. He went to Oregon to get away from a-- he got a girl in trouble, see? She figured if she could simply get Kay to look at Marti, Kay would figure things out. All four women said things got very lonely for them. So he said, I don't need a DNA test. She heard it first from her own mom, who heard it at church. And the other thing was that he really thought, what difference does it make a child is a child. But Norbert should have gone back and said, this isn't our baby. Here she is. Like Sue, though, Marty stuck out in her family for one thing, she was the only one who joked around, she says even now, the Millers can't tell when she's being ironic. If you're ever curious as to what they were, I would be very willing to fill you in, so you fully appreciate the parents who raised you. The infants were accidentally switched, and went home with the wrong families. What are you supposed to be with each other? He had a band. And Susan always had said to me, Mom, why didn't you have any more children after I was born? Here's Bob McDonald who remember, was having these great phone calls with his newfound sister. And Mary Miller explains why she was tormented by her secret but unable for decades to share it. What Kaye McDonald didn't know was that there was a whole slew of people in her church community who had heard about the rumored baby switch from the beginning, Mrs. Miller and Kay McDonald were actually in different churches. Unbelievable Intentional Swap. She could have been my aunt or my mother talking on the phone. It is one of the several identifiable characteristics of melodrama that are plot devices dealing with situations that are highly improbable in real life. I'm IRA Glass. Was there ever a time when you thought back and thought I should have stood my ground more with him on that? In the episode, reporter Jake Halpern introduces us to a story of two baby girls who were accidentally . Note: This American Life is produced for the ear and designed to be heard. And. And we hope you flourished in the McDonald household. Yeah. I don't even know who they are. And so in this half of the story we hear from the mothers again. She said she was really live like he always had jokes. I only let myself think about it one time. Sue knew her mother had never been a big fan of the Millers ever since they met. Blood tests were done with the Millers and they proved Mrs. Miller was right about the switch. I thought that was strange. And I had probably all of the emotions that you have with a death in a family. Everybody's smiling. 7 Baby Girls Learn of Switched Fates as 56-Year-Old Grandmothers (1953) Via dailymail.co.uk In 1953, two baby girls were born on May 3 at the Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Heppner, Oregon. You know, I would I was just like, wow, you know, wow. [00:00:33] And he let Marty know that he still loved her. There's a large statue of an angel in her sitting room which she's planning to put on her own grave. She said everybody at church, after having seen Marti beside the rest of the family, just couldn't believe that that was their child. And I knew that she had to be my sister. Make sure to check out the comments to this blog to hear from one of the main players in this story. I just couldn't do it. They understand what their relationship was like. No, I guess I haven't, because I knew it wouldn't have worked. I wanted a baby, you know, and you're my baby. Jake Halpern, he's the host of the new podcast Deep Cover, about an FBI agent who goes undercover with an outlaw motorcycle gang. I thought I was losing both of them. In the show, one teen from a wealthy family discovers that. And so I kind of made a promise to myself that. Bay Kennish grew up in a wealthy family with two parents and a brother, while Daphne Vasquez, who lost her hearing as a child due to a case of meningitis, grew up with a single mother in a poor neighborhood. I mean, that my kids are all so serious about their life. And until that time, we just talked all the time. The fact is Mrs. Miller longed for Sue for her biological daughter ever since she realized the mistake back in 1951, but it seemed futile trying to convince her husband, Norbert. During this time, it was Marti's dad, Reverend Miller, who reassured her. Slowly, anger began to set in. Just out of curiosity, what was your room like? And things are good with Mrs. Miller to Marty's accepted that despite some of the clumsy things that her mother said and did when she broke the news to her, she meant well. Jakobson story continues in a minute from Chicago Public Radio when our program continues. And I was and I was like a serious person. It was Matt Tierney, Nancy Updike and Diane Wu. TV-14 | 06.06.2011. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards. Nobody would dance with me at the dances. And I said, I don't think they know anything about it. Did you feel that then after this happened a little bit closer to your dad than your mom? And he says, this is a nice little baby. 3.75 avg rating 17,692 ratings. But they didn't notice any-- I don't know why they didn't notice it that Martha looked like them and was like them. At first, they refused to believe her, but then she told them about the blood tests, finally Sue handed over all the letters that she had and sent them in the past month, letters telling them how much she loved them and how much she wanted to stay their daughter. Part of me really doesn't want to know because I think I would feel left out of something. The counselor asked her what McDonald's knew about all this, and I said, I don't think they know anything about it, so. At last, Mrs. Miller felt free to act. The next week, though, when Marty was visiting their mom, Mrs. Miller, she asked her about what Rudy had said. She circled his name and she wrote, This is your uncle. And when Bob found out about Marty, found out that she was his biological sister, he called her right away in California. She got along famously with their son Bob. And yeah, I think it might be. And my mother has told me since then, you know, I really didn't expect that much from you, because I knew that you weren't our child. Kay McDonald is still tight with Sue, the daughter she raised, but she's also much closer with Marty. The infants were accidentally switched, and went home with the wrong families. But I kept looking for her and I was always asking anyone who might have seen her, and that day when I would go down, have any touch with the McDonald's, we we got introduced to them, I, I tried to talk to her about it and she she told somebody that I was crazy. The same plot device appears in the Freeform TV series Switched at Birth, which aired its series finale in April after five seasons. It was like a dog door, just like here. From WBEZ Chicago, it's "This American Life." I was a serious person. It took Kay an awful long time. Here's Bob McDonald, who, remember, was having these great phone calls with his newfound sister? They say they're not angry with her. That's what it might have ended if it hadn't been for Mrs. But I went along with it, because I don't like to make waves, I guess, you might say. The five girls shared one bedroom. When Kay's church was celebrating its 150th anniversary, for instance, Kay was chairperson for the event. Reverend Miller is affectionate with her putting his arm around her waist. And so that's why I started sending them a copy of our Christmas letter. Her historical fiction book, The Gilded Years, about the life of Vassar College's first African-American graduate, comes out June 7th. And every time I'd talk to him, he'd say, oh, it's all right. It was a different way of living, one that she admires. Earlier this month, Sue's daughter got married in Michigan. Once every few years, they get together for a large family gathering, a wedding, a graduation, a funeral. I mean, I'd say, gee, guess what, Bob? The Story Behind 'Switched at Birth's' Emotional Racism Episode. One of the mothers realized the mistake but chose to keep quiet. This doctor had been kind to us and good to us. When she got on the phone, I was just totally blown away, by the way, she pronounced her words were identical with the way my mother talked. The two fathers in this story were not interviewed. If you're just tuning in, Jake Halpern is telling the story this hour of two girls switched at birth. Here's Jake Halpern. And now she wanted everyone's role to be clear. No, no, no. Thanks especially to the McDonald and Miller families for letting us into their homes and telling their stories. Finally, on July 10th, 1994, Norbert was willing to go to Kay and Bob McDonald's fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration at Pershing United Methodist Church when he saw you. During its run, the show was groundbreaking in that it was one of the first mainstream shows that represented the deaf community and even had deaf actors in the cast. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized, you know, I can't think about this, because it'll drive me crazy if I do. This American Life often broadcasts short fiction or essays that touch on absurd or deeply imaginative, but this single-story episode proved that sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction. And the moment he saw her, he knew that she was his biological daughter. I just couldn't do it. This brings us to Marty, the other baby in this baby switch, before she found out the truth about who her mother really was, Bardes life wasn't all that different from Seus already was also married, also had three kids. Marty eventually decided that the only way she was going to resolve this was by getting on a plane and flying out to Wisconsin to meet the McDonald's face to face and give them a real chance to get to know her. If I had as strong a feeling as she did that I had the wrong baby, I would have pursued it. For our 25th Anniversary, a favorite episode from 2008. I tried out for cheerleading. And, you know, I'm reading this thing going, What do you mean these are my this is my uncle. He did not want her to push me out of the family. Anyway, here's the story. And you looked so much like Carol. I was shy or I was whatever. That sort of spooked Marti, so she left it alone. Never had that happened with any of our others. Well, of course, they were really clamoring to get to know her. Yeah. It's hard enough to learn that your mother isn't your mother, but it's even harder when that news is delivered by someone like Mrs. Miller. It's hard enough to learn that your mother isn't your mother, but it's even harder when that news is delivered by someone like Mrs. Miller. The other daughter in this baby, Squidge Sue, who was born to Mrs. Miller, the one writing the letter but raised by Kay McDonnell. Things like that. This is Sue reading a letter she got some time ago from her new found Miller sister Faith, though there are many, many good things about our family and parents and being raised by that family. One mother, Mary Miller, knew and kept it a secret, did nothing about it, for 43 years. You know, when she finally heard from Mrs. Miller, the mother she'd grown up with, not only did she get the letter, but Mrs. Miller had just been to the fiftieth anniversary party of the McDonald's, Marty's biological parents. Before when I'd asked you if you thought it was God's will, you said yes. One thing Mrs. Miller doesn't regret is raising Marty. We love you, Martha Jane, as dearly as our other six children. What was your reaction? That's how long it took her to sort out her feelings. And when Mrs. Miller finally let everybody know the truth, long after both girls were grown up with children of their own, it was disruptive. Mary Miller is 96 now. And I'm thinking, how would I have survived with that kind of upbringing? At the Beginning This true story started in the early 1950's when two girls were born at the same hospital in a Wisconsin town. So I left Prairie du Chien and I was driving. And angry that now the Millers were asking so much of Sue's time and attention. At last, Mrs. Miller felt free to act. And so that's why I started sending them a copy of our Christmas letter. Mrs. Miller gave her a noncommittal answer, saying that once upon a time, they thought that maybe, perhaps, it might have. She remembers Marty always lightening the mood in their house as a kid. I'm really a Miller. I don't know why they didn't say. In fact, she seemed to have a tin ear for the whole thing. So you fully appreciate the parents who raised you. That is why I wanted to write this letter. So I never will probably understand why. Our senior producer for this episode is Julie Snyder, music from Jessica Hopper. That wasn't something that they would have done because athletics was really not a value to them at all. 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.