A Florida couple involved in an IVF embryo mix-up will keep raising the baby they brought home after reaching a custody agreement with the child’s biological parents, who have decided not to fight for custody.
Tiffany Score and Steven Mills reached what court filings described as a “mutually devised custody agreement” with the biological parents of their daughter, Shea.
According to the agreement, filed in Orange County, Florida, on June 12, Score and Mills will remain Shea’s permanent custodial parents and raise her as their own. The biological parents’ identities will stay confidential.
The pair previously told PEOPLE that, despite wanting to raise Shea themselves, they felt “a moral obligation to find her genetic parents,” and were ultimately able to do so.
The biological parents’ attorney has now spoken to NBC News, saying they are devastated by the situation.
“They are heartbroken over what has happened, and they also understand that the birth couple are also suffering,” lawyer Rob Marcereau, told the outlet.
“They had to make the heartbreaking decision to not fight for custody.”
According to Marcereau, the biological parents, who have not been publicly identified, are still expected to remain involved in Shea’s life.
He also said they care deeply for the child, but believed trying to secure custody would have been “an incredibly uphill legal battle,” despite their wishes.
“They just didn’t feel that that was going to be what was in the best interest of Shea,” Marcereau said.
It is understood that both families held several “emotional” meetings before settling on the agreement and said they want to build a relationship of friendship and trust around Shea.
Tiffany and Steven welcomed Shea in December after undergoing IVF treatment at The Fertility Center of Orlando. It was later discovered that Tiffany had been implanted with an embryo that did not belong to them.
The couple subsequently filed a lawsuit against the clinic. The complaint stated that both Tiffany and Steven are white, while their IVF-conceived baby is “a racially non-Caucasian child”. Genetic testing later confirmed the mistake.
The Fertility Center of Orlando announced on May 20 that it would be closing.
It also emerged this week that Tiffany and Steven had launched separate legal action over fears surrounding their remaining frozen embryos.
PEOPLE, citing court filings, reported that only one viable embryo remained at the clinic. Because of the closure, that embryo has since been moved to another provider and is now being tested to confirm parentage. The process could take around six weeks.
“Through the undersigned, their new provider contacted Defendant Fertility Center of Orlando to arrange transport and received the embryo attributed to them. That embryo will be tested for parentage and then the Plaintiffs will determine next steps,” the legal filing stated.
Despite the custody resolution, the broader lawsuit against the clinic and its former physician remains open, with the couple continuing to investigate how the error happened and whether other embryos or patients may have been affected.