Attention overwhelms Mid-Columbia women switched at birth

Laura Kate Zaichkin, Herald staff writer

When two women who were accidentally switched at birth at a Heppner, Ore., hospital 56 years ago finally met this spring, they joked their story seemed suited for a soap opera or talk show.

"The big comment was, 'Maybe we'll get on Oprah or Maury Povich,'" said Kennewick's Dorothy Shaffer.

She grew up believing Kay Rene Qualis of Heppner was her sister when DeeAnn Shafer of Richland actually was her biological sister.

"It was always a big joke -- these are the kinds of stories that end up on those kind of shows."

Oprah Winfrey hasn't come knocking -- yet -- but a lot of other media have.

The baby mix-up story has appeared in newspapers, TV and websites across the nation since first appearing in Sunday's East Oregonian newspaper.

And even the big dogs have come calling. Shaffer said her sisters have been contacted for interviews by People magazine and will appear today on ABC's Good Morning America.

"Once it comes out ... it has just taken off," Shaffer said. "It's just kind of overwhelmed us all."

Shafer and Qualis were flown to New York on Wednesday along with more than a dozen relatives for the interview.

The women discovered this spring they had been switched at birth after a woman who knew both families contacted a sibling and told him the women had been given to the wrong mothers at the hospital.

Last month, Shafer and Qualis had DNA tests in Kennewick to confirm they had been switched.

Shafer grew up in the Angell family and Qualis was raised by the Reeds. Both set of parents have since died.

Shaffer said what could have been a horrible discovery has been embraced by both families. The women celebrated their 56th birthdays together earlier this month.

"They've really been handling it very good," Shaffer said. "They laugh and call each other 'swister.' I've never seen my sister Kay Rene as happy as she is."

Shafer told the East Oregonian, "I'm trying to move forward (and) look at the positive."

Shaffer -- who admitted it adds to the strange situation that she and the biological sister she'd never met until a few months ago married into such similar last names -- said her sisters are carrying that positive attitude into the media frenzy that has become their lives.

"We've been laughing about it but they've been overwhelmed about it too," Shaffer said. "DeeAnn's started screening her calls."

Family and friends also have been inundated with calls since Shafer and Qualis agreed to go on Good Morning America and grant no more interviews until the show airs.

Back home, Carol Klein, Shaffer's sister, said Qualis had to take the day off from her bank job because too many reporters -- even one from England -- were calling and she couldn't get any work done.

And once she got home, "She said they were even at the door at the ranch. How they ever found the ranch, I don't know," said Klein, who also lives in Heppner.

"For simple, small-town people we just never expected it," she said. "It was a joke that we'll be in the movies and all that, having no idea that Good Morning America would call. It's exciting."

tool name

Thursday, May. 14, 2009

Attention overwhelms Mid-Columbia women switched at birth

Laura Kate Zaichkin, Herald staff writer