Yao Ce (left), an advanced liver cancer patient from East China's Jiangxi Province, and Guo Wei, from Central China's Henan Province, celebrated their birthdays for the first time with their respective biological parents in Shanghai on Monday. Photo: Du Qiongfang/GT

Yao Ce, an advanced liver cancer patient from East China's Jiangxi Province, and Guo Wei, from Central China's Henan Province, celebrated their birthdays for the first time with their respective biological parents in Shanghai on Monday, reminiscing how their lives turned upside-down due to a mistake which meant they were switched at birth.

Diagnosed as a carrier of hepatitis B when he was 2 years old, Yao was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer this February. 

Following a suggestion from a hospital in Shanghai mid-March, Yao's mother, surnamed Xu, proposed to donate her liver to Yao. However, Yao's parents found that the young man's blood type (AB) did not match their blood type (A), with ensuing paternity tests proved that Yao was indeed not their biological child. 

Yao's parents later went to Henan, where Xu gave birth, before finding their biological child, Guo Wei, with the help of the local police. Yao and Guo, from two different families, were switched at birth by mistake at the Huaihe Hospital of Henan University (formerly the Second Affiliated Hospital of Henan Kaifeng Medical College). 

However, Yao found out this information by accident when reading the news because his parents had hidden this information from him for fear of affecting his emotions. 

"When I think about my parents' attitude to me throughout the last month, I can't think of one thing that has changed," Yao told the media on Monday.

Yao reached out to Guo, who currently lives in Zhumadian in Henan Province, and got to know more about his biological parents. In fact, Yao's blood mother had recently gone through liver cancer surgery. 

The two families met for the first time ever in Jiangxi on May 1, and have kept in close contact ever since. They decided to celebrate their birthdays together in Shanghai this year as well, since Yao has started a radiation therapy treatment at Shanghai Oriental Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital since June 8.

"I was told that my life will not extend longer than three months after I was first diagnosed of advanced liver cancer," Yao said. 

According to Yao, he has been taking medicine to improve his condition during the past decades. His family has spent over 600,000 yuan ($84,565) for treatment ever since he was diagnosed of advanced liver cancer. The total cost of the liver transplant surgery is expected to be around 1.2 million yuan. 

According to Yao, the hospital of his birth stated that the incident did happen in the hospital, but it has no relation with Yao's disease, which Yao thinks is very irresponsible. When contacted by the Global Times on Monday, the hospital refused to comment. 

According to Yao's lawyer, Zhou Zhaocheng, his condition could have been prevented if the hospital did not make the mistake, and if the hepatitis B vaccine was given in 1992, because Yao's biological mother is a carrier of the virus. 

At the birthday party, both Yao's foster mother and biological mother burst into tears when they recalled their experience. "We have devoted a lot into Yao's education, and he has become a successful young man," said Xu. 

"We only hope that he can get better," Du Ping, Yao's biological mother, added.