A young single mom becomes suspicious when everyone notices how different her young son looks from her and her ex, so she takes a DNA test and learns a terrible secret.





The happiest day of Gina Barrino’s life was the day her son Brandon was born. She woke up groggy from the anesthetic they had given her for the emergency c-section. The nurse placed her baby in her arms.

It was love at first sight. The moment Gina looked into her baby’s dark eyes, she was head over heels in love. She kissed his little head and breathed in his delicious baby scent. Being a mother was a dream come true, even the fact that Brandon’s father didn’t want to be involved in their lives couldn’t shake her.

Gina and boyfriend Greg Lassinger had been living together for three years when she became pregnant. Greg hadn’t called or proposed to her, instead telling Gina he didn’t think they were right for each other and that he didn’t want to be forced into a relationship.

To her surprise, Greg’s opinion didn’t break her heart. Somehow the existence of this little life growing inside her had become the most important thing. Gina moved out and restructured her life in anticipation of her baby’s arrival.

Love makes a family, not genetics.

When she went into labour, she had reported it to Greg. After all, he was the baby’s father and had a right to know. But he didn’t show up at the hospital. Gina’s doctor decided it would be safer for her if they did a cesarean, so she was under anesthesia when Brandon was born.

She held him in her arms a few hours later and was charmed by his beautiful blue eyes. “His eyes are getting darker,” her mother said. “Yours were the same! Sorry to tell you we all have brown eyes!”

Gina smiled and cuddled her baby. She had never felt happier! A few days later, she left the hospital with Brandon to face all the challenges of being a single mom. It wasn’t easy, and there were days when she cried, but she always lifted her head and faced the next hurdle.





When Brandon was one year old, he was the most adorable kid you’d ever seen. Gina’s mother was wrong! Brandon’s eyes stayed light blue and his hair was somewhere between auburn and red.

“Oh my god!” everyone cried when they saw the child. “What a beautiful boy! I bet he takes after his father!” Gina smiled and nodded, but the truth was that like Gina, Greg had dark brown eyes and black hair and there were no blue-eyed redheads in any family.

When Brandon went to kindergarten, the other moms commented on his looks and the color of his skin. A mother had asked if Gina had adopted him. “No!” Gina shouted. “Why do you think that?”

“Because…” the other mother said sheepishly. “He doesn’t look like you at all… I thought he was adopted! Sorry!”

That evening, Gina was watching a late night show when two women were talking about how they were accidentally switched at birth. The story was shared to describe the protocol at the hospitals to ensure no mistakes happen – and sometimes fail.

Gina got up and went to Brandon’s room. She looked down at her lovely boy. “He’s my son!” she whispered. “And I love him, but what if… what if there was another boy?”

The idea started to plague Gina’s mind, so she finally decided to do a DNA test. She wiped Brandon’s small cheek and her own and sent the samples off for testing.

Two weeks later, she received the results. They weren’t related! It was time to find out the truth.





Gina contacted the hospital and although they initially told her that it was impossible to make a mistake, they agreed to open her files for her.

She discovered that two boys had been born on the same day. One was her own baby, the other the child of a homeless woman who had died giving birth. The babies were registered as Brandon Barrino and Dylan Lassinger.

Lassinger? Gina gasped. Why did the homeless woman’s baby have Greg’s last name? Unless of course! Somehow Greg had swapped her baby for the homeless and taken it for himself.Lassinger?

Gina was angry. She went straight to the police and accused Greg of kidnapping and custody interference. Greg was forced to hand Dylan over for a DNA test and the results proved he was Gina’s biological child.

Greg went to jail, as did the nurse he bribed to switch the babies and do the paperwork. He’d wanted the baby but not Gina, so he used his wealth to “steal”

As for Gina, she now had two beautiful boys – Dylan and Brandon – and when they were growing up the boys told everyone they were twins!Was Gina betrifft, sie hatte jetzt zwei wunderschöne Jungs – Dylan und Brandon – und als sie aufwuchsen, sagten die Jungs allen, sie seien Zwillinge!

What can we learn from this story?

Love makes a family, not genetics. Gina had loved Brandon even though he wasn’t her biological son, but she wanted to be sure that Dylan had a good, loving home too.
Secrets are difficult to keep and can easily turn our lives upside down. Greg never thought Brandon was so different that he would raise suspicion and lead Gina back to her own child. He ended up in prison for his crime.





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