Man Born to Rich Parents Endures Life of Poverty After Hospital Accidentally Gave Him to Wrong Couple at Birth

A Japanese hospital was ordered Tuesday to pay a man nearly half-a-million dollars after they made an error decades ago and accidentally gave the man who was really born to a wealthy family to a less fortunate couple.

“I wondered how on Earth this could have happened,” the 60-year-old man, who declined to provide his name, told Japanese media. “I could not believe it. To be honest, I did not want to accept it.”

Stock photo. (Image source: Shutterstock)

The shock revelations were only uncovered after the wealthier family ordered DNA testing in 2011, following years of being perplexed as to why the man bore little resemblance to his family, according to The Telegraph.

The child who was accidentally given to the wealthy parents lived an affluent life, enjoying a private tutor in his childhood and ultimately becoming the head of a real-estate company.

On the other hand, the less fortunate man endured a life where he thought his father died at two and lived with several siblings in a one bedroom apartment, according to The Telegraph.

The Tokyo District Court ruled Tuesday the hospital will have to pay the man a little over $370,000, according to The Telegraph. Still, it's unlikely any monetary amount can make up for the opportunities in life the man missed.

“The links between the man and his real parents were severed and the man was forced to grow up in a poor home,” Judge Masatoshi Miyasaka reportedly said in his ruling. “The mental anguish he went through was enormous."

[sharequote align="center"]“The mental anguish he went through was enormous."[/sharequote]

“There were far-reaching differences between the two family environments and the plaintiff suffered an unreasonable loss as a result,” the ruling reportedly added.

“It is impossible to assess the scale of the pain and disappointment both the parents and the man had to suffer, as they were deprived of opportunities to enjoy their parent-child relationship for ever," it continued.

The man agrees, reportedly telling Japanese media he may "have had a different life" and just wants to "roll back the clock to the day that I was born."

The man's three biological brothers say they want to forge a relationship with their long lost sibling, according to The Telegraph.

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