It is better all round that girls look like their mothers.
Nevertheless, so obsessed did CC become that he demanded a DNA test to establish the child’s paternity. The test was done and revealed to the horrified mother that not only was Callie Marie not her father’s daughter – she was not her mother’s, either. Ninety miles away Rebecca Chittum, brought up by Whitney Rogers since 1995, was the real Callie Marie.Now, suppose for a moment that Mr Conley had not demanded a DNA test (even in the US I would imagine that most men still don’t require them). In that case, of course, the mix-up could never have been discovered, and Callie Marie and Rebecca would have grown up not knowing that they were the “wrong” children.By now you are probably ahead of me. The implication of the Callie Marie case is that this kind of mishap happens not infrequently and is only rarely discovered. All over the world women are carting the fruits of other loins back to cots and nurseries and bringing them up as their own.

It could even be you…I am unlikely to be sued by a Virginian hospital, Ms Johnson has other things to worry about, and Ms Rogers – tragically – died in a recent road accident, so I am safe to indulge in a bit of speculation about how this mishap occurred. And there are really only three possible explanations.The first is that one of the mothers exercised a bizarre bit of consumer choice and – thinking that someone else’s baby looked more appetising than her own offspring – proceeded to switch the name tags that are routinely attached to newborns (usually in the delivery room).The second possibility is that some third party made the switch for mischievous reasons that are not easily fathomed. And the third is that the hospital did not tag the children at all or attached the tags wrongly. I think you will agree that, of the three scenarios, the third is the most plausible.Now let us visit another medical establishment, this time in Wales.

The Pontcae surgery, in Merthyr Tydfil, like so many other practices throughout the country, recently decided to offer its patients an extra range of alternative services. One of the GPs, a Dr Kevin Thomas, was trained to administer the ancient Chinese treatment of acupunture, and one of his first clients was Diane Thomas (no relation), a 33-year-old sciatica sufferer.One afternoon a few weeks ago, Thomas the Sciatica lay on her front in the surgery, while Thomas the Doctor gently inserted 12 long needles into pressure points on her back, neck, feet, legs and arms. The procedure complete, Ms Thomas was told that she should rest for 40 minutes, after which Dr Thomas would return and remove the needles.Forty minutes came and went Ms Thomas probably fell into a light doze And then another 40 minutes went by. By which time the sufferer was growing both restive and uncomfortable. But what was she to do? She was naked in front and covered in ingrowing prickles at the back. There was no question, therefore, of her getting up and walking into the crowded waiting room.