The 9 most devastating moments in Girl, Taken

What South African doesn’t know the stolen-at-birth story of Zephany Nurse/Miché Solomon? The story of exactly how a 17-year-old girl found out that her loving mother, Lavona Solomon, had snatched her from her birth parents has been covered exhaustively in newspapers, magazines, interviews and in Zephany/Miché’s own book, Zephany: Two Mothers, One Daughter, An Astonishing True Story.

But the details still have the power to shock. In the M-Net-produced documentary Girl, Taken, streaming on Showmax, the Nurse and Solomon families and the now 25-year-old Zephany Nurse/Miché Solomon (who’s still integrating those different parts of her identity) walk us through the emotional minefield that they had to start navigating when Zephany/Miché was found at the age of 17. Girl, Taken was filmed over the course of six years and we see the enormous shifts that have taken place even during this time.

But the documentary comes with a grab-a-tissue warning! Stock up, because here are our nine most devastating moments…

1. Her voice, her face

Celeste saw her daughter’s kidnapper and heard her voice. She was falling asleep as she gave a “nursing sister” permission to pick up her newborn baby. About half an hour later, someone woke her up and asked, “Celeste, where’s your baby?” We cannot even grasp the level of fear! The media footage of the young couple, who were still in their teens, crying and pleading with the kidnapper to give back their baby is gut wrenching.

2. Tears and milk

The police traced women who’d miscarried within the 12 months leading up to Zephany/Miché’s birth. The documentary does not go into why Celeste and Morne were along for the ride when the police visited one “miscarriage mother” who did have a new baby – which turned out to be a boy. Celeste reveals that this kind mother let her nurse her son, as Celeste’s body was still producing milk for her stolen daughter.

3. The other Zephany

The birth of Celeste and Morne’s second daughter, Cassidy, was a mixed blessing. Cassidy mentions that her parents talked about Zephany/Miché and her kidnapping every day, so Cassidy grew up in a world of locked gates and doors, and she was not allowed to play outside at all. “I felt like I was the other Zephany, who was just being kept there to take that pain away,” Cassidy revealed.

4. The moment of truth

In 2015, Zephany/Miché felt an instant connection with the new girl at Zwaanswyk High School, Cassidy. Even with a four-year age gap they could have been twins. Suspicious, Morne contacted the police, and Zephany/Miché’s life was uprooted. One day, she was told that she was Zephany, and taken to stay with a social worker. Her mom Lavona was arrested, and her dad Michael came home to the horror of an empty house. The documentary captures the confetti cannon of positive and negative emotions that exploded when DNA test results proved that Miché Solomon was Zephany Nurse.

5. You are Zephany/I am Miché

As Zephany/Miché saw Morne and Celeste attacking Lavona in court and in the press, their image of an evil baby stealer bore no relation to the indulgent, loving mother who’d raised her. And Michael Solomon’s loyalty to her and to Lavona formed a stark contrast to Morne leaving his wife and children while Celeste was suffering from cancer during the eight months leading to the trial. Even before the verdict was handed down, Zephany/Miché broke contact with the Nurse family.

6. The liar’s trial

During the trial, Lavona claimed that she had faked a pregnancy for four months following a miscarriage, then bought baby Zephany/Miché for R3 000 from a woman who offered to help her with fertility. But state witness Shireen Piet blew the lid off her lies.

She revealed that a couple of days before Zephany/Miché was stolen, Lavona was hanging around the maternity ward and even “helped” Shireen with her baby … until Shireen saw her trying to go into the lift with her baby! The documentary shows the police sketch based on Shireen’s description of the would-be baby snatcher at the time alongside a photo of Lavona from her family photo album. Shireen’s testimony brought the trial to an abrupt end.

7. You were not worth finding

Shortly after the trial, Zephany/Miché revealed that she was pregnant and signed a deal with a publisher to tell her side of the story. She called Morne “a lost cause” and claimed that Celeste and Morne were “broken people”. After the book was released, Cassidy admits to telling Zephany/Miché, “You were not worth finding” – echoing a sentiment that Morne had also expressed in the press.

8. Lockdown is family time

The birth of Zephany/Miché’s daughter Sophia helped to mend her relationship with the Nurses, including Morne. Zephany/Miché even stayed with Celeste and Morne during lockdown in 2020. And when she saw how perfect Celeste and Morne really were together,  she became determined to get them back together again. Celeste and Morne remarried in November 2020, but the documentary does not say what happened with Morne’s former partner and their little daughter.

9. Waiting for Lavona

Question marks still hang over the Solomon and Nurse families. Knowing that Lavona lied for 18 years has cracked the foundation of Zephany/Miché’s trust, and she can’t stop asking Michael how he didn’t know that she was not Lavona’s baby. Cassidy agrees that there’s no happy ending: Lavona is in prison. Her family was hurt. And Celeste and Morne are still struggling with the fact that they can’t bridge a 17-year gap.

Meanwhile, Lavona still hasn’t fully acknowledged or apologised for what she did. And Celeste ends the documentary saying that she has her husband and daughter back, but she now lives knowing that she could lose them all again in the blink of an eye.

Lavona Solomon is eligible for parole in July 2023.