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Show Mistake Made 10 Years Ago Stirs All of France Today This is the story of a little boy and girl lost. It began in a French hospital nearly ten years ago when a maternity ma-ternity ward mixup resulted in two children being given to the wrong mothers. Madame Janine Piesset had been told she had borne a. boy, but she gladly accepted the girl as a "gift from God" for the loss of an earlier daughter. Madame Jeanne Derock was presented with a boy. She knew, however, that she had borne a girl, and she wanted a girl. So started a heart wrenching domestic drama that has fascinated fasci-nated and saddened France. A recent issue of Life magazine tells in pictures what is happening happen-ing to the children and their mothers as the drama unfolds with no happy ending in sight. Madame Derock has cared well for the little boy but not until recently had she even given him a name, Henri. She has at the same time fought bitterly in the courts for her daughter. Since 1957 the courts have believed be-lieved and ruled that the little girl known as Viviane Piesset is really Louise Derock. They have experimented with visiting rights and exchanges of children between be-tween the two families. But none of this satisfied Mme. Piesset, who will always believe Vivian Louise is her daughter. The boy Henri's problem is a poignant one. Mme Piesset says, "He is not my son, but I'll take him if they give me Viviane." Mme. Derock, who has grown fond of the boy, says, "I'll keep him but I want my daughter." The girl, meanwhile, who is wanted passionately by both families, is torn between Mme. Piesset, who aeries, "They have taken my child away from me, the child I brought into the world," and Mme. Derock, who firmly says, "I want my daughter." daugh-ter." Little Viviane Louise alternately alter-nately calls each woman "Ma-man," "Ma-man," and weeps and pleads to be kept forever by the one she is with." Mere judicial determination has fallen far short of the needs of a small bewildered girl and her almost half brother who seem to know neither exactly where they are nor where their I hearts ought to lie. |