Woman sues fertility clinic, saying she gave birth to another couple’s baby

Savannah, Georgia: Krystena Murray always wanted to be a mother, but when she gave birth to a healthy baby boy two years ago after undergoing in vitro fertilisation, she knew her fertility clinic had made a mistake.

The baby was black, while Murray and her sperm donor are both white. Doctors had transferred another patient’s embryo into her uterus, instead of her own, Murray says – a mistake that would eventually force her to relinquish the little boy to his biological parents.

Krystena Murray with the baby boy she delivered, whom she says she had to relinquish when he was five months old because of an IVF mix-up.Credit: Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway & Wise

Murray, 38, of Georgia in the United States, filed a civil lawsuit this week against the fertility clinic she used to become pregnant, alleging the negligence of Coastal Fertility Specialists in mixing up her embryos with those of the other couple has caused her ongoing pain and anguish.

“To carry a baby, to fall in love with him, to deliver him, to build a unique bond between mother and child, all to have him taken away from me … I’ll never be the same woman,” she told the American ABC News channel. “Part of me will always long for my son and wonder what type of person he’s becoming.”

Murray delivered the baby boy in December 2023 and says she knew when she saw him that the child didn’t develop from one of her own lab-fertilised eggs. She resolved to raise the child as her own anyway.

But when an at-home DNA test confirmed the child was not hers, she reported the mix-up to the fertility clinic, who she said tracked down and notified the baby’s biological parents. They demanded custody, Murray said, and she gave up the five-month-old boy to avoid a legal fight she couldn’t win.

“I have never felt so violated and the situation has left me emotionally and physically broken,” Murray told reporters during a virtual news conference. “I spent my entire life wanting to be a mom. I loved, nurtured and grew my child and I would have done literally anything to keep him.

“The actions of the fertility clinic have come very close to destroying me, have left irreparable damage to my soul and ultimately left me questioning whether I should be a mom or not,” she said.

Coastal Fertility Specialists operates four other clinics in neighbouring South Carolina. In a statement quoted by ABC News and The Washington Post, executive director Isabel Bryan said the clinic “deeply regrets the distress caused by an unprecedented error that resulted in an embryo transfer mix-up”.

“While this ultimately led to the birth of a healthy child, we recognise the profound impact this situation has had on the affected families, and we extend our sincerest apologies.”

Murray said everything seemed normal when she began treatment in early 2023. She had injections to stimulate the production of eggs, which were later harvested and fertilised in a lab using a donor’s sperm. She said she became pregnant the second time an embryo was implanted in her uterus.

But her lawsuit says the clinic’s “extreme and outrageous” mistake caused Murray to be “turned into an unwitting surrogate, against her will, for another couple”. She’s seeking unspecified monetary damages.

Her lawyer, Adam Wolf, said Murray still did not know what happened to her own embryos. It’s still unclear how the mix-up occurred, he said. Murray is undergoing IVF treatment again, but at a different clinic.

Wolf’s law firm has represented more than 1000 patients taking action against fertility clinics, often for mistakes such as embryos being lost or damaged from being dropped on the ground or being stored in malfunctioning freezers. He said transferring the wrong embryo to a patient appeared rare.

“Fertility clinics engage in vitally important work,” Wolf said, adding: “With that amazing work comes a real responsibility. And when fertility clinics make mistakes like this, the consequences are life-altering.

“Errors like this should never occur in a fertility clinic. It’s a cardinal sin.”

Murray recalled the day she gave birth and how her joy quickly gave way to confusion and fear. If this child couldn’t be hers genetically, she wondered, whose child was he? And could he be taken away?

That fear kept Murray from posting pictures of the baby on social media, her lawsuit says, or even showing him to friends and family initially. Attending a funeral soon after she gave birth, Murray kept her newborn covered in a blanket to avoid questions.

Murray took a DNA test early last year that confirmed the baby did not come from one of her embryos. Wolf said his firm notified Coastal Fertility Specialists soon afterwards, because Murray hoped the clinic would improve its procedures and safeguards.

The clinic determined who the child’s biological parents were, Wolf said, and let them know that Murray had given birth after receiving one of their embryos. The clinic said it had conducted an investigation to put in place more safeguards.

Murray said the couple sued her for custody last year. She volunteered to give up the baby, she said, after her lawyers told her she had no chance of winning in court. That was last May when the baby was five months old. Murray said she has not seen him since.

“I considered the consequences of IVF going in,” Murray said, including the risks of bleeding, infection, sterility and possibly death.

“Never once did I consider I might give birth to someone else’s child and have them taken from me,” she said. “And I feel like that should be something that women are aware of as an actual possibility.”

AP

Get a note direct from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.