\n<\/p>\n
A couple is suing a Florida fertility clinic after learning that they were implanted with the wrong embryo, and are going public with their attempts to find their child\u2019s biological parents.<\/p>\n
Tiffany Score and Steven Mills have filed a lawsuit against IVF Life Inc, which operates as the Fertility Center of Orlando, and its lead physician, Dr Milton McNichol. The suit, which was initially filed under pseudonyms to protect their family\u2019s privacy, states that three viable embryos were created with Score\u2019s eggs and Mills\u2019s sperm, and an embryo was successfully implanted in April 2025.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the birth of their daughter Shea on 11 December, Score and Mills, who are both Caucasian, noticed that the baby appeared to be a different race than either of the parents. Genetic testing confirmed that the child \u201chad no genetic relationship to either of the plaintiffs\u201d, according to the suit filed in Palm Beach county circuit court.<\/p>\n
The couple is seeking a monetary remedy from IVF Life, though the amount is not specified.<\/p>\n
Score made a Facebook post on 29 January where she explained the situation to friends and family, and also requested information on Shea\u2019s biological parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we are profoundly grateful to have Shea in our lives and love her immeasurably, we also recognize that we have a moral obligation to find her genetic parents,\u201d she wrote. \u201cOur joy over her birth is further complicated by the devastating reality that her genetic parents \u2013 whom we do not yet know \u2013 or possibly another family entirely, may have received our genetic embryo. We are heartbroken, devastated, and confused.\u201d<\/p>\n
Score went on to say that their family has been \u201cliving like prisoners in our own home\u201d and that her post was made in part due to \u201cbegin living more freely and to finally celebrate the one beautiful thing that has come from all of this: our daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
She went on to say that the couple would not be issuing any further statements until further progress has been made by their legal counsel. Score, did however, ask for \u201cany information on the family who might be at the other side of this\u201d.<\/p>\n
Alexa Score, Tiffany\u2019s sister, started a GoFundMe page for the family, writing that \u201cthe funds raised will help cover extensive medical expenses, including prior IVF costs, hospital bills, and mental health therapies.\u201d The funds, which currently are at $10,193 of the $12,000 goal, will also be used to support efforts to locate Shea\u2019s biological family and find Score and Mills\u2019s genetic embryos.<\/p>\n
In the fundraiser description, Alexa also writes that \u201cthe Fertility Center of Orlando, have provided little to no information regarding the search for Shea\u2019s biological family nor their embryos. Tiff and Steve feel a moral obligation to find and notify Shea\u2019s biological parents, as they would want the same if the roles were reversed. To say the lack of action by the clinic is reprehensible hardly does the situation justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the family\u2019s legal team said: \u201cOur clients\u2019 primary objective is to identify the genetic parents of their darling daughter and to locate their missing embryos. Although we have not had cooperation from the clinic in the past, we are hopeful they will provide the answers we seek … this is not a lawsuit for damages at this point and our clients very much remain focused on finding the genetic parents of a daughter that they love and who is a beautiful healthy girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Fertility Center of Orlando\u2019s clinic acknowledged the situation in a now-deleted post on their website, according to USA Today Network and the Orlando Sentinel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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,\u201d according to the statement. \u201cMultiple entities are involved in this process, and all parties are working diligently to help identify when and where the error may have occurred. Our priority remains transparency and the well-being of the patient and child involved. We will continue to assist in any way that we can regardless of the outcome of the investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A couple is suing a Florida fertility clinic after learning that they were implanted with the wrong embryo, and are going public with their attempts to find their child\u2019s biological parents. Tiffany Score and Steven Mills have filed a lawsuit against IVF Life Inc, which operates as the Fertility Center of Orlando, and its lead<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[4411,2306,7009,11248,3649,22773,1335,3038],"class_list":{"0":"post-43585","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-clinic","9":"tag-couple","10":"tag-embryo","11":"tag-fertility","12":"tag-florida","13":"tag-implanted","14":"tag-sue","15":"tag-wrong"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}