Poppy Bilderbeck
A Florida fertility clinic is being sued by a couple after the 'unimaginable' happened when the wife birthed a child which wasn't genetically theirs.
A lawsuit filed on January 9 in Palm Beach, Florida, alleges the woman was implanted with the wrong embryo while a patient of the Fertility Center of Orlando.
The husband and wife - identified as John and Jane Doe - are stated as first starting their journey with the clinic in March 2025, hoping to conceive a child through IVF treatment.
The treatment proved a success, however, after carrying the baby to term and giving birth in December 2025 to a healthy baby girl - named in the lawsuit as Baby Doe - the parents discovered 'Baby Doe displayed the physical appearance of a racially non-Caucasian child'.
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The concern? Both Jane and John Doe 'are racially Caucasian'.
The lawsuit details: "Of equal concern to the Plaintiffs is the obvious possibility that someone else was implanted with one or more of their embryos and is pregnant with or has been pregnant with and is presently parenting one or more of their children."
The lawsuit explains the parents have 'an intensely strong emotional bond' with Baby Doe as a result of Jane Doe carrying the child for 'nine months of her pregnancy'.
"Despite the certain knowledge that Baby Doe is not their genetically matched child, the emotional bond grows stronger every minute of every day that Baby Doe remains in their care," it adds.
While the parents would keep Baby Doe in their care, the parents believe the child 'should legally and morally be united with her genetic parents so long as they are fit, able and willing to take her'.
The lawsuit details a letter was sent to the clinic asking them to 'cooperate' both in uniting the child with their genetic parents but also in determining what happened to John and Jane Doe's embryos too.
The letter was reportedly sent via 'regular mail, email and fax' alongside attempts to talk over the phone, but all proved 'unsuccessful'.
Via the lawsuit, the couple are now demanding the clinic take several courses of action.
First, John and Jane Doe 'demand' the clinic inform all of its patients 'who had embryos in storage' just before Jane was implanted about the incident.
Secondly, the couple demand the clinic provide 'free genetic testing' for any patient who's used its services in the past five years in which they were storing embryos there themselves.
And finally, any 'discrepancy in parentage' across implantations which took place within the five-year period needs to be disclosed too.
They hope this will help identify who Baby Doe's genetic parents are alongside identifying where their embryos ended up and whether or not the same thing has occurred before.
An attorney representing the couple told News6: "The heartbreaking and unexplained invitro fertilization errors described in our recently filed lawsuit remain unresolved.
"While our clients continue to fall more deeply in love with a beautiful little girl who is someone else’s child, they are also living with the unbearable knowledge that there may be one or more of their own children unknowingly in the care of strangers."
The attorney reflected on such alleged mistakes as being 'unimaginable' and 'inexcusable'.
They added: "It is a mystery why they are refusing to voluntarily cooperate in trying to undo the mess they have created, but that refusal has required us to seek emergency court intervention and may soon require a broad public appeal for help."
The Fertility Center of Orlando said in a statement to WESH: "We 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.
"Multiple 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."
UNILAD has contacted Fertility Center of Orlando for comment.