Huang Xiaolin and Li Hui were born 55 minutes apart, in October 1989, at Qingyuan People’s Hospital, in China’s Guangdong province. Neither had a bracelet identifying her at birth. Only cards with their names placed inside their blankets.
And someone mixed them up.
The babies were switched between families, a mistake that would change both their destinies forever.
Huang grew up in a comfortable home, with parents who worked for the government. But her father noticed something strange: the girl’s blood type did not match his and, moreover, they did not look alike. Convinced that his wife had been unfaithful, he kept a distant relationship with the girl. The couple ended up divorcing when Huang was barely five years old, and she grew up under the shadow of that doubt.
4 kilometers away, Li Hui grew up among the shelves of a grocery store. Her family lost its savings in a scam. She left secondary school to work: she was a tour guide, receptionist, and saleswoman. Her body paid the price with a blood disorder and thyroid surgery. Neither knew the other existed. In 2022, Huang took a DNA test hoping to repair her bond with her father and ended up discovering that neither he nor her mother was her biological parent. Li, meanwhile, discovered that the life she knew had begun with a mistake.
With police assistance, in April 2025 she found her biological family and, on the other side, Li Hui. They met in a café. They described it as nerve-racking, exciting, and a little awkward. Neither abandoned the family that raised her, and together they sued the hospital for more than 2,6 million yuan.
Now, after more than 30 years of living just 4 kilometers apart, both are trying to reclaim something no court can give back: the time they spent without knowing who the other was.