They didn’t learn the truth until they were 65. Two Canadians realized two years ago that they had been switched at birth, reports The New York Times. The story begins when one of Richard Beauvais’ daughters is interested in his ancestry, to find out more about his supposedly indigenous roots. Richard Beauvais – who described himself as “half French, half Indian” or half-breed – then decided to carry out a DNA test, at the age of 65. The surprise comes when the results reveal no indigenous origin, but a Ukrainian-Polish mixture. He imagines at the start that it is a mistake.
Also according to the New York Times, Eddy Ambrose, a retired upholsterer, decided at the same time to carry out a DNA test in the Canadian province of Manitoba. He had grown up listening to Ukrainian folk songs, while attending mass in Ukrainian. However, the test result reveals that he has no Ukrainian-Polish origin, but that he is … mixed race.
Following these events, the two men contacted each other through the DNA testing company’s website and exchanged emails for months. They soon realize what has happened: they were switched at birth to a rural hospital in Manitoba. Eddy Ambrose claims to have had a pleasant childhood. “It makes me feel like I’ve been stripped of my identity. All my past is gone. All I have now is the door that I open to my future, that I have to find,” he told the New York Times. He then contacted his biological sisters and filed a lawsuit against the province of Manitoba, asking for an apology and compensation.
For his part, Richard Beauvais says he had a difficult childhood, because of Canada’s brutal policy against the natives. His father died when he was three years old before being placed in an Indian boarding school at age nine, being taken from his family because of Canada’s anti-Native roundup policy.
After having finished growing up in rural Manitoba, where cohabitation between white and Aboriginal communities was possible, he later settled in British Columbia where he became a fisherman. Despite everything, Richard Beauvais has no regrets. “If I could go back to that hospital room today and change, I wouldn’t, because I have two beautiful daughters, a beautiful wife, three beautiful granddaughters,” he said. So no hard feelings.
