The Accidental Twins is a Spanish-language documentary film released on Netflix that presents a bizarre and unbelievable story from Colombia. Unlike other Netflix documentaries, especially from that specific part of Latin America, this tale is not one of violence and crime but instead reports about an unusual mix-up committed by some hospital authorities sometime in 1988. At the film’s center is a young man named Jorge Bernal, who was suddenly faced with the possibility that the man he knew to be his brother for his entire life might not be related to him at all. Overall, The Accidental Twins makes for a fun and light watch, even ending on a touching and wholesome note.
What made Jorge Bernal question his ties to his family?
The whole matter began with Jorge Bernal, a professional at a hydrocarbon company, who was approached by a colleague and friend, Laura Vega, with a strange claim. Laura stated that she had run into Jorge at the meat shop in a different neighborhood of Bogota, where he had been working as the head butcher. The woman needed to buy some meat for a gathering, and she accompanied a friend, Yaneth Paez, to a meat shop at the latter’s recommendation. The shop was run by the cousin of Yaneth’s boyfriend, so the women would get the best quality at the best price. However, Laura did not expect to see her colleague as the butcher, and although she reached out to Jorge enthusiastically, the man acted rather confused. He brushed her off without any conversation and behaved as if he had no idea who the woman was. Laura felt that her colleague must have been embarrassed that someone from his office had seen him working as a butcher, and perhaps he also feared that she would complain about his moonlighting.
But when Laura reported the incident to Jorge the next day, the jovial man laughed it off, saying that he had not even been to that neighborhood of Bogota, let alone work there. He jokingly suggested that Laura must have run into some secret twin of his, and the two made fun of the incident for quite a few weeks. But Yaneth, on the other hand, was confident that the butcher they had come across at the shop was William Canas, her boyfriend’s cousin, and she had known the man for quite some time. This got the two women thinking about what mystery was behind this strange incident, and things started to take shape when they made a discovery together. Both the men had their birthdays in December, but the exact date was not known to the friends. When discussing the matter, Laura remarked how they could just be separated twins, when Yaneth said that her friend William had a non-identical twin brother already. Remarkably, Jorge also did have a non-identical twin brother, and the mystery started to grow once this discovery was made.
After some more joking around, Laura eventually sent Jorge a photograph of William, and he immediately noticed how similar they looked. In fact, when he showed the picture to all his colleagues, none of them could figure out that it was not actually him. By this time, Jorge had also developed a curiosity about the matter, for it was extremely unusual that someone looking exactly like him existed in the same country and city as him, and yet there were no familial ties between the two. He searched for William’s profile on social media and found it, too, before going through the photos that the man had uploaded. It was then that Jorge got the shock of his life when he saw William with the man who was supposed to be his brother. It was an unbelievable moment for him, as the man looked very similar to his own twin brother, Carlos. This was the first time that the possibility of an unfortunate switch between the twin pairs struck Jorge, and he continued his personal research into the case. All of a sudden, he was questioning whether the man he had grown up with, believing him to be his brother, was even related to him in any way. With the belief that a different family existed for either him or his brother Carlos, Jorge determinedly vowed to find all the answers regarding the mystery.
How did the babies get switched?
Upon further inquiry, Yaneth revealed that her friend, William, was originally from a village called La Paz in the Santander region of Colombia, and he had moved to the city of Bogota only for his professional career. Once Jorge was convinced that he might be related to William, the latter was also informed about the situation by Yaneth and Laura. William and Jorge had a short conversation on the phone first, and they decided to meet up in the town square in a couple of days. At this time, both the men told their respective brothers about the situation, and quite understandably, both of them were absolutely shocked at the possibilities. They were invited to the bizarre meetup as well, but while Carlos Bernal, Jorge’s brother, shied away from it, Wilber Canas agreed to come only in order to protect his brother William from any potential danger. It became very apparent from this meeting that Jorge and William were indeed brothers, as they did not only look the same, but their mannerisms and movements were also extremely similar.
Stunned by this new discovery, the three quickly went over to Carlos’ house, for he, too, needed to be made a part of it, and there was no longer any chance to deny the obvious. The pairs of non-identical twins, Jorge/Carlos and William/Wilber, were actually the results of some mix-up from their childhood, as they were actually not related to each other. Instead, it was Jorge and William who were identical twins, and Carlos and Wilber were the same as each other. With this confusion cleared up, there was the need to find out next about who originally belonged to the Bernal family of Bogota and who was of the Canas family in Santiago. While the Bernal parents had already passed away by this time, the parents of the Canas were also shocked when told about this, as they had never suspected any such switch. By now, the case of this mix-up had spread to the Colombian media, and news TV programs started to cover it as well. It was during this time that the real truth about the switch eventually came out, although there was no conspiracy regarding it at all.
The four boys were born on the same day in December of 1988, but the locations were different. Since the Bernal family settled in Bogota, the twins were born in the Materno Infantil Hospital in the city. On the other hand, the Canas had their twins born in the local facility in their village. Within a few hours of his birth, though, one of the Canas babies developed some complications, for which he had to be sent to the nearest city for better treatment—Bogota. As the mother was obviously unable to make this trip right after giving birth, and also because she had a different twin to look after, she sent her own mother to the city. It was the grandmother who brought the baby to Bogota and took him to the Materno Infantil Hospital, as had been advised by the village doctor. Here, the baby was treated back to health, and during this time, his aunt regularly visited to take care of him.
It was at this time that the fatal switch took place, albeit accidentally, and when the authorities handed the aunt and grandmother the baby, they had mistakenly given them the wrong one. The two women could not figure out any difference, though, since the boy was just an infant, and they happily took him back home to Santiago. This baby, which was taken from the city, was christened and raised as William Canas, while the one left behind in Bogota was later named Carlos Bernal. Therefore, Carlos was the biological son of the Canas family, but he was raised by the family in the city. William was unknowingly brought back to the village in Santiago, and he remained in the village for the most part of his life. The Accidental Twins also tracks down a few of the mothers who worked at the Materno Infantil Hospital, since the place has closed down now. According to them, the most likely incident that might have happened is that one of the baby’s name tags, fixed to its hand, must have slipped off. The nurse dealing with the baby probably did not have enough time to deal with the matter, or they might have even noticed the absence of the tag and taken the baby to the wrong bed. Whatever the exact reason was, it was very clear that there was no malicious intent behind the switch of the babies, and it was all a coincidence.
Where are the Bernal and Canes brothers now?
The Accidental Twins does a commendable job covering the various social, emotional, and logistical issues that can arise after this strange mix-up of babies. Although it was the result of a mistake, technically, someone should have taken responsibility for the emotional complications that arose after its discovery. But nobody from the authorities, neither the hospital workers nor the government, took any liability for the mix-up. After the discovery was made, Jorge and William wanted to spend more time together to make up for the time they had lost as brothers, but Carlos had a tough time leaving the city and living with his biological family in the village. Eventually, he did come to terms with the situation, though, and was greatly helped by his real brother, Wilber.
Along with their physical similarities, the men understood that their characters and preferences were also similar to those of their original biological brothers. While Jorge and William were more outgoing, social, and carefree, Carlos and Wilber were the serious ones who gave much more thought to their actions. After realizing that he was actually supposed to grow up in the city amidst education, William decided to take up studies once again, after he had stopped during his childhood in the village. After having completed a degree in law, William has now been elected as village president in Paz, as a reminder that he has not forgotten his roots. Despite technically being adopted sons, neither of the two displaced boys ever felt any prejudice from their families, and so they naturally only see the positive side of this exposure. At present, Jorge, Carlos, William, and Wilber have their own lives and respective families, but they still continue to be extremely close to each other. The Accidental Twins ends on an extremely sweet note, as the four men celebrate their identities as four brothers, and the discovery that could have had negative repercussions ultimately ends up earning them more family members.
