icon bookmark-bicon bookmarkicon cameraicon checkicon chevron downicon chevron lefticon chevron righticon chevron upicon closeicon v-compressicon downloadicon editicon v-expandicon fbicon fileicon filtericon flag ruicon full chevron downicon full chevron lefticon full chevron righticon full chevron upicon gpicon insicon mailicon moveicon-musicicon mutedicon nomutedicon okicon v-pauseicon v-playicon searchicon shareicon sign inicon sign upicon stepbackicon stepforicon swipe downicon tagicon tagsicon tgicon trashicon twicon vkicon yticon wticon fm
7 Jul, 2019 14:14

Woman sues fertility clinic after giving birth to SOMEONE ELSE’S babies

Woman sues fertility clinic after giving birth to SOMEONE ELSE’S babies

An Asian-American couple who enlisted a pricey fertility clinic to help them have children is taking legal action, after the woman ultimately gave birth to twins that were not genetically related to her or her husband.

After struggling for years to conceive, the husband and wife –identified in court papers only as Y.Z. and A.P.– sought the services of Los Angeles-based CHA Fertility Center, which bills itself as a “mecca of reproductive medicine,”according to the New York Post.

The couple forked out an estimated $100,000 in total to pay for in vitro fertilization (IVF), a process in which the mother’s egg is combined with the father’s sperm outside the body, and the embryo is then transferred to the uterus.

Also on rt.com 2 wombs, 1 baby: Women in same-sex couple both carry baby during pregnancy

The procedure was a success, but there were early signs in the pregnancy that something had gone awry. Ultrasound technicians told the mother-to-be that she was carrying twin boys – even though she had directed the CHA center to implant her with two female embryos.

Apparently none the wiser, the fertility clinic reassured the expecting parents that the sonograms were “not a definitive test” and that there was no reason for them to be alarmed.

Also on rt.com Starchild: First extraterrestrial human could be born within 6 years

But when the wife gave birth via a cesarean section in March, it was clear that something had, indeed, gone terribly wrong. Both babies were boys, and neither shared their parents’ Asian ethnicity. Subsequent tests showed that the newborns were not genetically related to couple – meaning that the woman who had waited for so long to have children of her own had given birth to someone else’s babies.

The pair were then forced to hand over the twin boys to their respective biological parents, who were also clients of CHA.

Also on rt.com Australian woman wins right to use dead boyfriend’s sperm to have children

Heartbroken and enraged, the unwitting surrogate mother and her husband have lawyered-up and are now suing the fertility clinic.

Seeking unspecified damages, court papers filed in Brooklyn, New York noted that the couple “may never know what happened to their embryos, as well as whether the currently cryo-preserved embryos are genetically matched to them.”

This is not the first scandal to plague fertility clinics. In a recent case that made headlines, a liquid nitrogen freezer tank failed at a fertility center in Cleveland, Ohio, destroying scores of eggs and embryos.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!

Podcasts
0:00
27:21
0:00
26:13