Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 3, 1993                   TAG: 9308030053
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SARASOTA, FLA.                                LENGTH: Medium

TEEN, SWAPPED IN INFANCY, TELLS NATURAL PARENTS `NO'

The 14-year-old girl is seeking to sever all ties to Ernest and Regina Twigg and preserve her life with Bob Mays, the man who has reared her since she was switched at birth with another girl in a Florida hospital in 1978.

Kimberly, a blonde, hazel-eyed ninth-grader, spent less than a minute on the stand as testimony began in the civil trial to decide whether the Twiggs should be granted visiting rights.

Asked if she was sure she never wanted to see her biological parents again, she responded, "I am positively sure."

The Twiggs' attorney, John Blakely, then asked the girl whether she has psychological problems or nightmares. Kimberly responded on both counts with a barely audible "No."

Kimberly's attorney, George Russ, said the question "What constitutes a family?" goes to the heart of the case. "Biology alone - without more - does Mays not create or sustain a family," he said.

Russ argued that Kimberly has already made a loving, psychological bond with Mays, and to force her to visit a family she considers strangers would be devastating.

Blakely countered that the Twiggs have a right to at least visit with the child who is their flesh and blood.

The saga began at a hospital in rural Wauchula, where identification tags were switched and girls born to the Twiggs and to Mays and his wife, Barbara, went home with the wrong parents.

The exchange came to light nearly a decade later, when the child raised by the Twiggs, Arlena, developed heart problems and blood tests showed she was not their biological daughter.

After Arlena died in 1988, the Twiggs launched a search that led them to Kimberly and Mays, whose wife died of cancer in 1981. Mays' second marriage ended in divorce, and Kimberly is his only child.

On Monday, the two families sat at opposite ends of the courtroom and did not look at each other.

In testimony, the Twiggs and their seven other children - ages 24 to 9 - testified that Kimberly enjoyed the few visits she had with the family.

Some of the Twigg children testified that Kimberly even asked to be called "Arlena" during her family visits.