Barbara Walters Presents American Scandals- Kimberly Mays: Switched at Birth

I had heard about this story some years back but didn’t know all the details. I watched Barbara Walters Presents American Scandals- Kimberly Mays: Switched at Birth last night and afterwards, I spent time researching this story in-depth because it was so confusing at first with so much going on. But, I finally got it all figured out.

Barbara Walters Presents American Scandals- Kimberly Mays: Switched at Birth

So, here are the basics: Kimberly Mays was born at Hardee Memorial Hospital in Wauchula, Florida on November 29, 1978, and Arlena Twigg was born at the same hospital on December 2, 1978. Kimberly is the biological daughter of Ernest and Regina Twigg but went home with Bob and Barbara Mays. Arlena is the biological daughter of Bob and Barbara Mays but went home with Ernest and Regina Twigg. Confused yet? The girls were switched at birth.

How did all this happen? Well, there have been theories throughout the years but nothing has been proven so far. It is the regulations of Hardee Memorial Hospital that the mother’s hospital armband matches the ankle and armband of their baby. And this was the case with both Kimberly and Arlena. With everything seeming normal, the Mays family and the Twigg family took their newborn babies home on December 5, 1978.

Twigg Family– Troubles started for the Twigg family within a few days of being home. Arlena seemed to have heart problems. Regina was told that her daughter was healthy at birth but two days later, suddenly she was in grave danger with a heart condition. The family found out that Arlena had a congenital heart condition, and it was treated until she was nine years of age. It was at that point that Arlena’s doctors recommend that she undergo heart surgery to fix her problems. She had routine bloodwork done before the surgery, and it was then that medical professionals found out that Arlena’s blood was not a match with either of her parents. Arlena had heart surgery in August of 1988, and though the operations were successful, she died the next day of complications. After Arlena’s death, the Twiggs set out to find their biological daughter, and they did find her when Kimberly was ten years of age.

Mays Family– The Mays family had their share of heartbreak when Barbara Mays died from ovarian cancer in 1981 when Kimberly was just three years old.

Hospital Lawsuit– Both the Mays family and the Twigg family sued Hardee Memorial Hospital. The Twigg family settled for $7 million, the Mays family settled for $6.6 million and Kimberly received $1 million in a lump sum and starting at the age of 18, she receives $4,000 a month for the rest of her life.

Custody Battle– Soon after the Twiggs found their daughter Kimberly, a bitter custody battle began. The Twiggs claimed that Bob and Barbara Mays deliberately had the babies switched. Apparently, this was done because of two reasons: one is the doctors knew Barbara was dying of cancer and wanted her to have a healthy baby and two, Kimberly parents were wealthy (owners of Coker Fuel Inc.) and paid the doctors to do the switch. Regina Twigg claims that Arlena’s birth chart noted no medical issues at birth but later that was crossed out and someone wrote in congenital heart condition. She also claims that at birth, Arlena’s weight was 8lbs. 8oz. but then changed to 6lbs. 8 oz.

In November of 1993, Patsy Webb, a former nurse’s aide at the hospital came forward with the claim that the baby switch was intentional, it was ordered by a doctor at the hospital and three doctors at the hospital knew about the switch. However, these allegations were never proven and Patsy Webb died soon after from emphysema. The court ruled that Bob Hayes would have full custody of Kimberly and the Twiggs were allowed visitations. However, after only 5 visitations, Bob terminated the visits because he says it was causing Kimberly too much stress and her grades were dropping in school.

Later, the Twiggs brought Bob back into court, but this time Kimberly had a say and she wanted all rights of the Twiggs terminated and the judge granted her wishes. But, just six month later, when she was 15, Kimberly ran away to live with the Twiggs. While she lived with them, Kimberly would run away several times. Eventually, Kimberly spent time with the Twiggs and Bob Mays.

Kimberly Mays Today– Barbara Walters recently interviewed Kimberly Mays and wow has a lot changed in her life. Kimberly is the mother of six children with four different men. She has been married twice, both ending in divorce. Throughout the years, she has worked as a stripper to make money and even found herself homeless for a few months, living in both her car and a homeless shelter. Today, Kimberly works in Clearwater, Florida at a call center. She has not spoken to the Twiggs in 10 years.

As for Bob Mays, he died on February 25, 2012. Kimberly didn’t find out about her father’s death until May of 2012 because the two weren’t on speaking terms at the time. For four years before his death, Kimberly didn’t talk to her father because of conflicts with her stepmom. At the time of his death, Bob had been married to Darlena Souza since February of 1990. It was his third marriage, marrying Cynthia Tanner just two months after the death of Barbara, only to divorce her two years later. In the spring of 1999, Kimberly lost custody of her 21-month old son, Devin, to her estranged husband. The reason why she lost custody remains unclear even today.

Twigg Family Today– Regina and Ernest Twigg divorced in 1998, and both have since remarried.

The big question is: did being switched at birth put these families on such a difficult life course? Could Kimberly’s life have turned out different if she grew up with her biological parents? Could all parties involved have done anything differently to make sure the whole thing didn’t ruin her life? Tell us what you think!