In 1988, two sets of twins were born in the same hospital in Bogotá, Colombia. Carlos and Wilbur were identical twins, and Jorge and William were identical twins. Shortly after the twins were born, they were mistakenly separated such that half of the twins were sent home with the incorrect family. Thus, Carlos and Jorge went to live a privileged life in the city while William and Wilbur went to live an impoverished life in rural Colombia. Each set of boys grew up believing that they were fraternal twins.
Twenty years later, William and Wilbur relocated to Bogotá where they worked in the butcher shop of a grocery store. A person who knew Jorge, spotted William in the shop and mistook him for Jorge. The friend snapped a photo of William to show to Jorge. When Jorge looked up William on Facebook, he saw that William had a brother Wilbur who was identical to Jorge’s sibling Carlos.
With a little investigation, the pieces fell into place. The brothers agreed to meet in the city. Though they were switched at birth and reared apart, the young men fell into easy conversation. In spite of the fact that the brothers missed the opportunity to know their families growing up, they decided to make up for lost time by moving into together into one house, which they share today.
This story, which was covered by The New York Times and CNN, was reported by The San Francisco Globe on July 30, 2015.