There’s this ABC family drama that I watch every once in a while, Switched at Birth. It chronicles a somewhat similar situation, where a mistake at the hospital separates a new mother and their child.

This must be a really terrible situation, as few things on this earth surpass the pain of childbirth, not to talk of that of a mother losing her child.

Zella Jackson Price had to deal with that for 49 years, after a mistake at the hospital she gave birth in led her to believe her new born was dead. The child ended up being adopted, and grew up believing her mom had voluntarily given her away.

Melanie Gilmore, the lost child, raised a family of her own, having two kids. With the name on Melanie’s birth certificate, the two kids started looking for their long lost grandma.

They found her on Facebook, and contacted her to tell her the story and that the child she thought lost was still alive. They agreed to a DNA test, and the results showed that Melanie was indeed that child whom Price was told had died at birth.

Now the pair has reunited, 50 years after the mishap that tore them apart.

It’s a nice, warm story, but that should never have happened in the first place. At least both mother and daughter have gained closure after all these years.