Linda Jourdeans spent her entire life wondering how she ended up being the only redhead in a family full of blondes. Meanwhile, Denice Juneski never understood how she was the only blonde, non-sports fan in a family full of athletic dark-haired women.

Now, Linda and Denice finally have the answer to their questions: they were switched at birth!

Linda and Denice finally learned the truth after 72 years when DNA tests through the company 23andMe confirmed that they were switched at birth at Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul, Minneapolis, on Dec. 19, 1945. Denice Mary Mayer was born at 2:17 a.m. and Linda Jean Nielsen arrived in the world at 2:48 a.m., yet somehow, there was a mix-up and they were brought home by the wrong families.

“It’s a crazy thing,” Denice said. “People just automatically assume they got the right family.”

The women believe they will never actually learn how the switch happened, as they assume everyone who was working at the hospital at the time is long dead. Though many would be devastated to learn they were switched at birth, both women are relieved to know the truth.

“I consider it a gift, and good things come out of it, I think,” Denice said.

Thankfully, each of the women grew up with loving families in Minnesota. As a huge genealogy buff, Denice is the one who submitted her DNA to 23andMe in April, and she was stunned when she did not match any of her relatives.

When she took the test for a second time, she was given a list of total strangers who she matched to.

“Either 23andMe made a mistake, or I was switched at birth,” she thought.

Linda was clued into what was happening when her niece noticed Denice’s name on her own DNA report. The niece immediately realized that Linda had been switched at birth.

“Sometimes I had that sense that I didn’t quite fit in,” Linda said. “I was really supposed to be another person.”

The women met in April in an incredibly emotional moment. Linda was only 17 when her mother, Rochelle Nielsen, passed away of cancer at 42. She was floored when she was just reunited with her biological mother and Denice’s mother, Marianne Mayer, who is 99 and in memory care.

“Unbelievable,” Linda said.

Denice and Linda now share a bond that few others have ever experienced.

“We’re just new friends,” Linda explained.

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