California Parents Sue Fertility Clinic After IVF Embryo Mix-up and Raising Baby That Wasn't Theirs

A California couple who gave birth to a baby that wasn't theirs filed a lawsuit Monday against a fertility clinic in Los Angeles that allegedly committed an in vitro fertilization or IVF mix-up.

According to the Associated Press, the IVF mix-up at the California Center for Reproductive Health (CCRH) led to a lawsuit filed by Daphna Cardinale and her husband Alexander, who spent months raising a child that was not theirs before swapping the infant to another couple.

California Couple Files Lawsuit After IVF Mix-Up

Daphna and Alexander said they had immediate suspicions that the girl she gave birth to in late 2019 was not theirs because the child had a darker complexion than they do.

The couple noted that they suppressed their doubts for months because they fell in love with the baby and trusted the IVF process and their doctors.

Months later, they learned that Daphna had been pregnant with another couple's baby and that another woman carried and gave birth to her child. Daphna said the incident caused enduring trauma.

"I was overwhelmed by feelings of fear, betrayal, anger, and heartbreak," Daphna noted during a news conference with her husband as they announced the lawsuit against the fertility clinic.

Daphna said she was heartbroken because she "was robbed of the ability to carry my own child." The California mother further noted that she never had the opportunity to grow and bond with her child during pregnancy and feel her kick.

California Parents Sue Fertility Clinic After Giving Birth, Raising Different Baby for Months

Based on the complaint filed by the California couple, the California Center for Reproductive Health (CCRH) and its owner, Dr. Eliran Mor, was accused of medical malpractice, breach of contract, negligence, and fraud. The lawsuit demands a jury trial and seeks unspecified damages.

According to the Associated Press, the office administrator for the center, Yvonne Telles, has declined to comment, and the owner of the fertility clinic could not be reached for comment.

Attorney Adam Wolf, who represents all four parents, said the other couple involved in the alleged IVF mix-up wished to remain anonymous but plan to file the same lawsuit in the coming days.

The lawsuit claimed that the clinic mistakenly implanted the other couple's embryo into Daphna and transferred the embryo of the Cardinales into the other woman.

The infants, both girls, were born a week apart in September 2019. According to the filing, both couples unwittingly raised the wrong child for nearly three months before the results of the DNA tests confirmed that the embryos were swapped.

The complaint said the Cardinales family, including their young daughter, already fell in love with the baby and they felt terrified that the infant would be taken away from them.

The California couple also said in their complaint that at the time they did not know the whereabouts of their own embryo, they were terrified that another woman had been pregnant with their child, and they were worried that their child was out somewhere in the world without them.

The two babies were swapped back to their respective parents in January 2020.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

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