A Florida couple who discovered their baby was switched in an IVF mistake has announced that they will continue to raise her after working out a custody agreement with her biological parents.
Tiffanny Score and Steven Mills, who had undergone IVF treatments at a Florida fertility clinic, discovered their baby girl was not genetically related to either of them after noticing that their daughter’s appearance did not match their family background.
Genetic testing later confirmed that the child was biologically connected to another couple.
Not long afterwards, Score and Mills filed a lawsuit against the fertility clinic and the doctor involved in their treatment.
Thanks to the legal action, they were able to identify the baby’s biological parents, whose identities have not been revealed.
Several months later, the families worked out a custody arrangement that allows Score and Mills to remain the child’s permanent custodial parents.
Details of the agreement have not been made public.
The judge said it was good that the families were able to come to an agreement while the child is still young, to minimize any disruptions to her life.
The case has drawn attention as situations like this are extremely uncommon. Only a small number of embryo mix-ups have been reported over the years.
From the beginning, Score and Mills said they wanted to continue raising the baby, as they had already formed a deep bond with her long before she was born.
Court records indicate there has never been any disagreement that the child is biologically related to another couple.
Rather, the legal dispute centered on how to move forward after the mistake was discovered.
The case has also renewed discussion about oversight in the American IVF industry, which some experts say faces fewer regulations than similar systems in other developed countries.
Meanwhile, the fertility clinic involved has continued to face financial and legal challenges; they’ve also announced plans to close earlier this year.
A new fertility clinic has since moved into the same space.
As for the lawsuit, it’s still ongoing.
Genetic testing is currently being carried out on a frozen embryo that the clinic says belongs to Score and Mills.
That embryo has since been transferred to a different storage facility.
In a statement released through their attorney, the couple said they plan to respect the privacy of the biological parents and hope to continue building a positive and trusting relationship with them in the future.
