A Florida couple is taking legal action against a fertility clinic following an ’embryo mix-up’ that resulted in them having a baby who is not biologically related to them.
This scenario, which seems out of a film, became a reality for Tiffany Score and Steven Mills after the birth of their third child.
Facing difficulties with natural conception, the couple sought assistance from IVF Life to expand their family. They underwent IVF treatment, a process in which a woman’s eggs and a man’s sperm are fertilized outside the mother’s body.
After completing the procedure, Tiffany and Steven recently welcomed a baby girl. However, what was supposed to be a joyous occasion soon turned distressing when they discovered The Fertility Center of Orlando had made a significant error.
A lawsuit filed in January 2022 reveals that both Tiffany and Steven are white, yet their IVF-conceived newborn is described as ‘a racially non-Caucasian child’, as reported by several sources including 6 News.
Genetic tests confirmed that the child is not biologically theirs. Nevertheless, Tiffany and Steven’s attorney, Jack Scarola, informed the Orlando Sentinel that ‘they have fallen in love with this child’ and intend to raise her.
Despite this, they constantly fear that the child’s biological parents might come forward and ‘take that baby away from them’.
The couple expressed to News6: “We would hope to be able to continue to raise her ourselves with confidence that she won’t be taken away from us.
“At the same time, we are aware that we have a moral obligation to find and notify her biological parents, as it is in her best interest that her genetic parents are provided the option to raise her as their own.”
Tiffany and Steven worry that one of their fertilized embryos might have been mistakenly implanted into another person, and they are demanding that IVF Life cover the costs of genetic testing for every child born using their services over the past five years.
The Fertility Center of Orlando had initially stated on their website that they are ‘actively cooperating with an investigation to support one of our patients in determining the source of an error that resulted in the birth of a child who is not genetically related to them’.
However, this statement was removed after a hearing on the case held on Wednesday.