I've seen this movie a bunch of times and remember hearing about the similar story in the news many years back. I'm curious to know, the twiggs are so egar (sp) to see kimberly and have visits with her and all, but what if the daughter they raised (arlena) was still alive? would they want to switch the babies back?
Do you think that if Arlena was still alive, the twiggs would be in such high demand for kimberly or not?
coolness
No. Seeking full custody of Kimberly (which is exactly what they were considering doing) would mean that they, in turn, would have to completely give up custody of Arlena, had she lived. They would never have done this. Although they were the ones who went through the heartbreak of losing Arlena, that put them in an easier position than Bob Mays when the switch came to light because they had nothing to lose.
Mays had EVERYTHING to lose - his birth child, whom he'd never gotten to meet, was dead, and the child he raised was being taken away.
Not to mention the fact that he had also lost his wife too. I don't think that they would have wanted to switch the children back. Because Regina made the comment about the girls being raised as sisters, which speaks fully that she wanted to keep both of them. Which is incredibly selfish for anyone to even consider.
shareI have wondered the same thing too. If Arlena was healthy and hadn't died the situation would have been completey different. The Twiggs probably wouldn't have wanted to switch the girls back maybe they would have worked out a plan with Bob Mays so they could get to know Kimberly and he could get to know Arlena.I also couldn't imagine a little girl like Arlena who was used to being in a big family with two parents to suddenly start living with a single dad. Both of the girls were used to their enviorments. Like timberwolf said I do remember an interview and an article in which Regina stated she would have raised both the girls which would have been extremely selfish.
shareI totally agree, the Twiggs would not have given Arlena up to Bob Mayes any more than he was willing to give Kimberly up to them, I think both Mayes and the Twiggs would have related to each other a lot better if Arlena had lived and both sides would have easily come to an agreement on doing the best thing for their girls. Bob would have understood why the Twiggs wanted to be in Kim's life so badly, because he would have felt the same way about Arlena. Bob lost his wife and as much as he loved Kim, I think upon finding out that the baby he and Barbara created together, the baby they waited and prayed for, the one they weren't sure they'd ever have, his and his wife's flesh and blood, was out there with another family, he definitely would have wanted to know that little girl and be in her life. Likewise, the Twiggs would have understood why Mays was so afraid of them and the possibility they might take Kim from him because they would have felt the same way about him. While they would have wanted to know Kimberly, Arlena was their daughter in every way that mattered, they fought to keep her alive for nine years and if Mayes tried to take her, they would have fought for her as hard as he fought for Kim. What it all comes down to is that the Twiggs, particularly Regina, clearly suffered some serious psychological trauma from losing Arlena and seemed to want to replace her with Kimberly, causing them to not see the situation as logically as they may have otherwise.
shareI’m close to the same age as the real Kimberly. When this it the news it scared me. I didn’t think this could ever happen. This stuck with me as I grew up and had my own kids. My babies never left my sight or my husbands sight.
As a mother you can bet nothing would stop me from at least seeing my biological child. But to put her through the pain the Twiggs put her through I would not do that! The Bible story about the two mothers fighting over a child and the real mother giving up her right to the child to prevent pain/death is the best way to describe how I feel. Any mother should feel that way. I remember court footage of Kimberly sobbing her heart out as lawyers screamed the real Kimberly died years later. Her father stood up for her court. It’s awful the Twiggs put her through that.