Court victory for girls switched at birth

A Russian court has ordered a maternity home to pay an equivalent of $100,000 in compensation to each of the two families whose babies it has accidentally switched at birth.

The two families only have found recently thanks to DNA tests that their 12-year old daughters were switched by mistake after their birth, and their drama has topped nationwide television news.

The parents laughed in joy and embraced each other in the footage from the courtroom in Kopeisk in Russia's Ural Mountains after the judge delivered the verdict on Monday. The compensation is huge by Russian standards, where an average monthly wage currently stands at the equivalent of some $500.

The parents said they are thinking about buying new houses next to each to stay in close contact.

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