Mona was confused in the delivery room – the municipality does not believe that there have been any more changes

Trond Arne Aglen is municipal director in Herøy. He says the municipality will do everything to find out what happened. Photo: Oddgeir Øystese / news After news told the story of Mona who was mistaken in the delivery room at Eggesbønes in Herøy, the municipality is prepared for people to become anxious about their own births. – There is nothing in the case to suggest that there are more cases. That some residents may be concerned about it, I am afraid may happen, says municipal director Trond Arne Aglen. Every year around 100 children were born in the delivery room located in the nursing home. Mona has felt different all her life, even though she had a good childhood growing up. She is demanding compensation for what happened. Photo: Oddgeir Øystese / news Nøstar in what has happened Mona is not as sure as Herøy municipality that there are not more cases. – I think what they have done is very serious. When they have spent so much time and energy hiding things and not doing their job, I think there is a high probability that I am not the only one, says Mona. Herøy municipality is now working to find out what happened. – We are now in the process of trying to find documents that can shed light on what happened at the time, says Aglen. Most of the people who ran the maternity ward are not alive today, but today’s chief medical officer worked in the municipality in the 80s. He will not make a statement until he has reviewed all the documents the municipality has ordered. Demand compensation The municipal director says it is important that the residents also receive the factual information, so that they are prevented from becoming unduly worried. The municipality is now in dialogue with Mona. She is now demanding compensation of a two-digit million sum to the Directorate of Health and Herøy municipality. Mona is now going to court to demand compensation from the Directorate of Health and Herøy municipality. Photo: Oddgeir Øystese / news Feeling different No one knows how it happened when Mona stayed home with the wrong family after the birth. She was still in Sogn and knew that she was different from the rest of the family. It was only when she, as an adult, took a DNA test through the website My Heritage, that she understood that her feeling was correct. The test showed that she had relatives she had no idea existed. The exchange has been confirmed through a judgment from the district court. There it was established who Mona’s biological parents are. Knew about the change The other mother found out about the change already in the 80s, when blood tests showed that the daughter could not be hers. The woman contacted the authorities and hired a lawyer. After the Directorate of Health examined five children in question, the mother was advised to drop the case. Mona is critical of the authorities’ handling of it. She believes that all the children in question should have been contacted for a DNA test. Then she had found out about the fad as an 18-year-old. At the Sanitetshuset in Eggesbønes there was a birthing room. Around 100 children were born annually, according to Herøy municipality. Photo: Oddgeir Øystese / news



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