New Drama Series ‘Switched at Birth’ Patterned After ‘Mara Clara’?

A new TV series set to premiere this Monday on ABC Family in the US has a similar plot with the Philippines’ “Mara Clara.”

“Switched at Birth” is an upcoming American television series set to premiere on ABC Family this Monday, June 6. The drama series revolves around two teenagers who were switched at birth and grew up in very different environments.

Sounds familiar, right? That’s because the plot is quite similar to ABS-CBN’s top-rating teleserye, “Mara Clara.” But there’s a lot of elements in the story that makes “Switched at Birth” different from our local drama series.

Here is the synopsis of “Switched at Birth” according to Wikipedia:

Bay Kennish (Vanessa Marano) is an artistic teenager being raised by her stay-at-home mom Kathryn (Lea Thompson) and former professional basketball player father John (D.W. Moffett), in a wealthy neighborhood along with her brother Toby (Lucas Grabeel). After studying blood types in school, Bay begins to investigate why her blood type does notmatch her parents. When the family confirms Bay is not biologically related, they discover the hospitalmistakenly switched her with another newborn. Enter Daphne Vasquez (Katie Leclerc), a deaf teen living with her struggling single mother Regina (Constance Marie) and grandmother in a working class neighborhood. A case of meningitis caused Daphne to lose her hearing as a child, so she attends a deaf and hard of hearing school where she plays basketball.

When the two families meet, the girls toil with their identities as Bay relates to her birth mother’s artistic abilities and Daphne is drawn to John’s athletic skills. The Kennishes learn that Regina is facing financial woes and propose the Vasquezes move into their guest home. The new living situation forces the girls, along with both families, to understand their differences and embrace their similarities.

Deaf advocate Marlee Matlin plays a friend of Regina’s and the mother of Emmett (Sean Berdy), Daphne’s best friend and a deaf schoolmate.

Come to think of it, the story about two main characters being “switched at birth” have been used (and exhausted) in various drama programs. Take for example South Korea’s “Endless Love: Autumn in My Heart” has the same premise but the series focused more on thelove story of one of the lead characters that have been “switched at birth.”