Couple who raised infant as their own are being compelled to relinquish the child, following a mix-up during an IVF procedure.
The baby, genetically linked to another couple, was mistakenly placed with them at birth, and despite their emotional attachment, authorities are requiring the child be returned to the biological parents.
The biological parents of a baby girl mistakenly implanted in another couple during a fertility procedure say they are devastated after deciding not to pursue custody. The couple, who have chosen to remain anonymous, described the situation as “absolutely impossible,” according to their attorney, after learning their embryo had been transferred to a different woman.
The error is believed to have occurred in March 2020, when both sets of couples—unidentified here and Florida residents Tiffany Score and Steven Mills—were undergoing treatment at the Fertility Center of Orlando. Last year, Score became pregnant after doctors accidentally implanted the wrong embryo. She gave birth to a daughter, Shea, in December, only to discover the child was not biologically related to her or Mills.
Score and Mills said they felt a moral duty to locate Shea’s genetic parents. While acknowledging the emotional toll, they emphasized their deep attachment to the child, describing a powerful bond formed during her first months.
Although both parties recently reached a custody agreement allowing Score and Mills to retain care of Shea, the biological parents’ lawyer, Rob Marcereau, told NBC News his clients were deeply saddened by the outcome. “They are heartbroken… They had to make the painful choice not to fight for custody,” he said, adding that they recognize the emotional hardship faced by the couple who raised Shea.
The case drew widespread attention in December, particularly due to the visible difference in ethnicity—the baby is non-Caucasian, while Score and Mills are white.
A judge in Seminole County, Florida, approved the custody arrangement this week, calling it a mutually agreed resolution. However, Marcereau noted that his clients would have preferred to raise Shea if circumstances allowed.
He explained that legal challenges would have been extremely difficult, given that U.S. and Florida laws generally prioritize the birth mother in custody matters.
In response to media inquiries, Score and Mills’ attorney, Mara Hatfield, acknowledged public interest in the story but stated the couple wished to respect the privacy of Shea’s biological parents. She said they hope to maintain a trusting relationship with them and protect Shea from unwanted public exposure. As a result, they will not be issuing further public statements.
With custody resolved, Score and Mills have filed a lawsuit against the Fertility Center of Orlando and physician Milton McNichol, alleging negligence. The clinic has admitted the mix-up: genetic testing confirmed that Mills’s sperm was combined with an egg from another woman, resulting in a child who is fully South Asian.
During recent court proceedings, Score and Mills revealed they had transferred their remaining frozen embryos to another fertility center for safekeeping. Photos on Score’s Facebook page show the trio bonding—laughing, hugging, and clearly cherishing time together.
In a heartfelt post, Score reflected on the complexity of their experience, saying they don’t feel anger, but rather gratitude. “We’re filled with gratitude and joy for our healthy, beautiful baby girl… She is the light of our lives,” she wrote. “No matter how this happened, she is ours in every way that counts.”
She also expressed hope about the possibility of finding their own biological children, should their missing embryos exist elsewhere.
Six years ago, Score’s eggs were fertilized with Mills’s sperm through IVF, and the resulting embryos were frozen. According to the lawsuit, one transfer in February 2025 failed, followed by a second attempt on April 7 of the same year.
The process involves storing embryos in labeled straws, rehydrating them in a petri dish, and monitoring them in an incubator before implantation.
Jack Scarola, representing Mills, previously told the Daily Mail that while the biological parents have been found, questions remain about the whereabouts of Score and Mills’s other embryos. “There are still unresolved issues,” he said, “including confirmation of identity and the safety of the one remaining embryo the clinic says belongs to our clients.”
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McNichol’s legal team submitted a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which was ultimately denied. They argued the case should be dismissed on two grounds: first, that the plaintiffs failed to establish a valid legal claim against the defendant, and second, that they did not satisfy the necessary criteria for emergency or preliminary injunctive relief.
The defense contended that the couple’s attempt to identify Shea’s biological parents would infringe on the privacy rights of other patients. In their filing, they emphasized that the plaintiffs provided no legal precedent, rule, statute, or case law empowering the court to compel the defendant to access patient records, reach out to individuals with stored embryos, and send unsolicited copies of the amended complaint along with a photo of the infant plaintiff—without any clear method or explanation for how such identification could reasonably occur.
According to the Florida Department of Health, McNichol currently holds an active medical license, scheduled to expire in January 2028. However, in May 2024, Florida’s Board of Medicine issued a formal reprimand following a clinic inspection conducted in June 2023, which uncovered multiple deficiencies. These included outdated equipment that fell short of current performance standards, failure to adhere to risk-management protocols, and missing medications.
As a result, McNichol was fined $5,000.
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Original Source: Genetic parents of baby born to another couple in IVF mix up were forced to give up the child against their wishes | Daily Mail Online
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