Infamous Soap Opera Baby Switches

Expecting a baby can be a life-changing moment for most women; however, in the land of soap operas, it can lead to a whole lot of trouble. At times, there is the age-old soap dilemma of paternity, and other times there’s another popular daytime storyline: a baby switch. This often entails a horrible situation where our soap opera heroine is either given another baby or thinks her baby has passed away. And sometimes it gets even wackier than that! Here are outrageous soap opera baby switches.

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8. Philip Kiriakis – Days of Our Lives

This baby switch storyline can be filed under the wacky category, and Days of Our Lives (DOOL) is known for its crazy storylines. In 1994, a younger Kate Roberts, infatuated by the power and influence of Victor Kiriakis, decided to marry the Greek tycoon and promised to give him an heir. Using in vitro fertilization, the couple believed they are on the road to parenthood. However, the always-scheming Vivian Alamain, desperate for Victor’s affections as well, ended up taking the embryos and implanting them in her. Philip was born in February of 1995, and the truth eventually did come out, but not without Kate eventually losing Victor to Vivian (not to mention stealing Kate’s moment of giving birth to her own son).

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7. Mariah Copeland – Young and the Restless

Not switched, so much as stolen, Young and the Restless’ (Y&R) Mariah Copeland ended up being the unknown twin of the deceased Cassie Newman. When a teenaged Sharon Newman (then known as Sharon Collins) gave birth to Cassie, she unknowingly also gave birth to Mariah. At that time, the nurse in the delivery room, Helen Copeland, was part of a cult group led by the dastardly Ian Ward. She took the child and raised her as her own, and under the influence of Ian. Years later, Mariah would be hired by Victor Newman to drive a whacked-out Sharon over the edge. In the end, it was revealed that Mariah was not a Cassie look-alike; rather, she was Sharon’s daughter and Cassie’s twin sister.

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6. Danny Morgan – General Hospital

Danny Morgan was a contentious issue in the land of Port Charles. First came the question of who his biological father was: Franco or Jason? If the continually flip-flopped paternity problem didn’t keep viewers tuned in, being swapped for another infant on the day Danny was born did. Sam Morgan gave birth to Danny in the summer of 2012 during a storm that prevented her from going to the hospital. Oddly enough, another child, Victor Lord III, had also arrived during that crazy storm, but unfortunately passed away. Being at the wrong place at the wrong time, Todd Manning and Heather Webber switched the babies, and gave little Danny to Tea Delgado. Thanks to a genetic disorder, known as Mediterranean Anemia (which runs in Sam’s family), plus some intuition and investigating on Jason’s part, Danny was eventually returned to his parents. Naturally, some kidnapping drama escalated beforehand, but eventually, Danny was returned.

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5. Tate Black – Days of Our Lives

Leave it to Days to come up with some outrageous storylines, and this one is no exception. While Teresa Donovan and Brady Black had hit a rocky patch in their relationship, Teresa was elated to find out she was expecting his child. Still, she took her time telling Brady about the baby, trying to find a perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, Teresa took too long. Brady’s ex-girlfriend (and daughter of the evil Stefano DiMera), Kristen, caught wind of Teresa’s state and vowed to get even. Wanting to have a child with Brady herself, Kristen had Teresa kidnapped, drugged, and then stole her embryo. With a sketchy doctor on hand, she then had him implant her with it. When Teresa eventually did tell Brady she was expecting, the results came up negative and made her seem like a liar. However, in the end, thanks to Melanie Jonas, the truth was revealed, and Tate was returned to Brady and Teresa.

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4. Georgie Spinelli – General Hospital

This is really a two-part baby switch story for GH’s Lulu and Dante Falconeri. Once they decided they wanted to take that next step and become parents, the poor couple struggled to have a baby. BFF Maxie Jones decided to help, and offered to become their surrogate. Unfortunately, Maxie lost the child during her first trimester. Not wanting to disappoint Lulu and Dante, she tried to re-implant herself with the couple’s remaining embryos but, as it turned out, she couldn’t… because she was already expecting with Spinelli’s child, who was conceived on a one-night stand on New Year’s Eve. Alas, Maxie decided to give her baby up, so that Lulu and Dante could be happy. Unfortunately the truth was revealed at the baby’s baptism, and all heck broke loose.

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3. Rocco Falconeri – General Hospital

Now here comes part two! After they lose baby Georgie (then known as Connie) in a custody battle against Maxie and Spinelli, Lulu and Dante gather up the courage to try and have another baby. They had a bunch of embryos left anyways! Unfortunately, when they head back to the lab, it turned out that those embryos were missing. In the end, Dr. Britt Westbourne ended up implanting them in her, to convince her then-beau Dr. Patrick Drake that she was expecting with his child. After a whole whack of lies from Britt, the truth was revealed that Rocco (then known as baby Ben) was indeed both Lulu and Dante’s baby boy. Finally, the couple received the miracle baby they had dreamed about for years.

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2. Sydney DiMera – Days of Our Lives

Back in late 2008, early 2009, Nicole Walker was infatuated with E.J. DiMera. While his heart always belonged to Sami, the couple found some happiness, which really stemmed from the excitement around Nicole’s impending baby. Unfortunately, Nicole lost the child but was able to come up with a brilliant plan to hold onto the family she had always dreamed of. Learning that Sami was expecting with E.J.’s child, she wore a fake belly during her third trimester and struck up a plan with a teen (who really was expecting) to adopt her baby. However, Nicole didn’t want that baby, so she decided to switch it for Sami and E.J’s infant. The plan was executed flawlessly; however, the baby that Sami had ended up passing away from meningitis. Distraught, E.J. and Sami mourned the demise of their child, and it took them months to discover that their baby was alive and well, living in the DiMera mansion the entire time.

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1. Faith Newman – Young and the Restless

As Cassie Newman passed away, she prophesied that Nick and Sharon would have another baby girl… and years later, they did. However, it took months before Sharon and Nick realized that Faith Newman (who ironically never had to change her name after the entire ordeal) was their baby. The ever-despicable Adam Newman caused Ashley to lose her baby. Thanks to Adam torturing Ashley with ghostly images of Victor’s ex, she was out of sorts and didn’t realize she was no longer with child. In another, wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time situation, Sharon — who as a little off-her-rocker as well — ended up in a psych ward when it was time to deliver Faith, and thought her baby passed away. Ironically Ashley was in the same ward as Sharon. Adam was there too, and was able to snatch Faith, convince Ash that she had given birth, and pass the baby on to her.