A Florida couple’s IVF nightmare exposes catastrophic failures in fertility clinic oversight, forcing parents to confront whether a child they carried and love belongs with strangers due to an unthinkable embryo mix-up.
Story Snapshot
- Florida couple discovers baby girl born December 2025 shares no genetic relation to them after DNA testing confirms wrong embryo implanted
- Fertility Center of Orlando faces lawsuit demanding clinic-wide genetic testing after May 2024 state fine for equipment failures and compliance violations
- Parents trapped between love for their daughter and moral duty to reunite her with biological family while searching for their own missing embryos
- Florida law prioritizes genetic parentage over gestational motherhood, threatening custody upheaval and exposing regulatory gaps in IVF industry
Clinic’s History Raises Red Flags
The Fertility Center of Orlando operated by Dr. Milton McNichol received a $5,000 fine from Florida’s State Board of Medicine in May 2024 for equipment failing to meet performance standards and risk management non-compliance. Steven Mills and Tiffany Score created three embryos from their genetic material years earlier, freezing them at this same facility. When the couple proceeded with implantation in March 2025, they trusted the clinic’s protocols would safeguard their family’s future. Instead, their December 11, 2025 delivery revealed a baby girl with features indicating non-Caucasian heritage, prompting genetic testing that shattered their assumptions.
DNA Results Confirm Parents’ Worst Fears
Genetic testing conducted in early January 2026 confirmed the couple’s suspicions: baby Shea bears no biological connection to either parent. The results indicated a catastrophic error occurred during fertilization, storage, or embryo transfer stages at the clinic. Mills and Score notified the Fertility Center on January 5, 2026, requesting immediate cooperation to locate their biological child and identify baby Shea’s genetic parents. The clinic provided no substantive response, forcing the couple to file a lawsuit on January 22, 2026 in Florida Circuit Court seeking emergency relief and accountability.
Lawsuit Demands Unprecedented Clinic-Wide Testing
The couple’s legal action through attorney Mara Hatfield demands the Fertility Center conduct genetic testing on all children born from procedures performed over the past five years. This unprecedented request raises tensions between patient privacy and public safety. During a January 28 emergency hearing, the clinic preliminarily agreed to genetic testing protocols, though clinic attorney Francis Pierce III emphasized that patient consent presents obstacles. The lawsuit also seeks disclosure of any other embryo discrepancies and funding for comprehensive testing to prevent additional families from facing similar devastation.
Florida law defines legal parents as genetic contributors, not the gestational mother who carries and delivers the child. This legal framework means Mills and Score could lose custody of baby Shea if her biological parents emerge and assert parental rights. The couple expressed willingness to raise the daughter they’ve bonded with but stated a “moral obligation to find and notify her biological parents.” Their own three embryos remain unaccounted for, leaving the couple agonizing over whether their genetic child was implanted in another woman and whether that family remains unaware of the mix-up.
Government Overreach Threatens Family Stability
This case exposes how inadequate government oversight created conditions for catastrophic errors while simultaneously demonstrating how legal interventions can tear families apart. The clinic’s 2024 violations should have triggered stricter monitoring, yet state regulators allowed continued operations without enhanced safeguards. Now Florida’s legal system prioritizes genetic connections over the gestational bond between mother and child, potentially forcing separation based on bureaucratic definitions of parenthood. This framework fails to balance parental rights with the reality that Tiffany Score carried, delivered, and nurtured this child for months.
The Fertility Center of Orlando issued a statement claiming “priority remains transparency and well-being” and promising to “assist regardless of outcome.” The clinic initiated a multi-entity investigation to determine where the error occurred, though no findings have been disclosed. Settlement discussions between attorneys aim for quick resolution, but the damage to trust in Florida’s IVF industry persists. Families who used this clinic now face anxiety about whether their children match their genetic material, while the broader fertility community confronts uncomfortable questions about laboratory protocols and accountability standards that failed to prevent this tragedy.
Sources:
Florida couple sues fertility clinic after allegedly giving birth to someone else’s baby – Fox News
