"Twins" split by 21-year-old bungle
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese "twins" have sued a hospital over an apparent mix up of babies 21 years ago until they were reunited by chance and neighbors' complaints.
With the same deep-set eyes and broad mouths, Xiang Nan and Wang Yiwen went to court in Beijing wearing identical jeans and check shirts, demanding redress from a hospital they said 21 years ago mixed up Xiang with another baby, the Beijing Times reported on Wednesday.
That baby grew up as Wang Yiwu, believing he was Wang Yiwen's twin brother.
The two families lived in the same semi-rural district of Beijing and Xiang and Wang Yiwen met briefly two years ago when mutual friends brought them together, struck by their similarity.
They dismissed the likeness as coincidence until late last year, when neighbors complained that a young man they thought was Wang Yiwen often ignored them.
"Often people said that when they saw Wang Yiwen in town he ignored their greetings," the paper said. "When his parents told Wang Yiwen he mentioned Xiang Nan."
Medical tests have now shown that Wang Yiwu has no blood relation to the brother and parents he grew up with, while Xiang Nan was 99.999 percent certain to be one of the biological twins.
The boys and their parents are demanding a total of 1.16 million yuan ($154,000) in compensation and an apology from the hospital, which has said too much time has passed for any court case and the families' claims are "hypothetical."
