Biological parents tracked down after fertility clinic mix-up led to couple giving birth to wrong child who they are now desperate to keep

A Florida couple who gave birth to the wrong baby in an in vitro fertilization mix-up are now desperate after their biological parents were identified.

Tiffany Score and Steven Mills welcomed a healthy baby girl into their lives last December after receiving treatment at the Orlando Fertility Clinic.

However, genetic testing after birth confirmed that the couple were not the biological parents of the child they named Shea.

The couple sued the clinic and fertility doctor Milton McNichol for negligence in January, according to court records obtained by the Daily Mail.

The complaint demanded that Nichols and the IVF center help reunite Shea with her ‘genetic parents’ and account for her missing embryos.

Genetic testing results delivered to the couple on Tuesday determined that another couple, referred to as Patient 004, were Shea’s natural parents.

Score and Mills previously released a statement saying they felt they had a “moral obligation” to find Shea’s genetic parents, but now wanted to continue raising him as their own.

In a statement to the Daily Mail through their lawyers, the couple said, “The test results we received yesterday confirm that the genetic parents of our baby have been identified.”

The Mills had previously released a statement saying they felt a ‘moral obligation’ to find Shea’s genetic parents, but have now said they want to continue raising him as their own.

The couple welcomed Shea into their lives in December 2025 after receiving treatment at the Orlando Fertility Clinic (pictured)

‘This ends one chapter of our heartbreaking journey, but it also raises new problems that need to be solved. Additionally, questions about the placement of our own embryos remain unanswered and are even unlikely to be answered.

‘Only one thing is as certain today as the day our daughter was born; We will love this child and be his parents forever.’

The couple respects the privacy of Shea’s genetic parents, who are not currently publicly identified.

It is unclear whether the couple, who developed an “extremely strong emotional bond” with Shea, according to their lawsuit, will gain custody of the child.

In a previous statement they said: ‘We love our little girl and hope that, if possible, we can continue to raise her ourselves, trusting that she will not be taken away from us.’

Photos shared on Score’s Facebook page show a seemingly happy family of three. The couple and Shea are seen smiling and enjoying each other’s embrace.

The new mother said in a post that although their situation was “impossible and extremely frustrating,” she and Mills weren’t angry.

Photos shared on Score’s Facebook page depict a happy-looking family of three

It is unclear whether the couple, who developed an “extremely strong emotional bond” with Shea, according to their lawsuit, will gain custody of the child.

After genetic testing identified Shea’s biological parents, Score (pictured with his daughter) and Mills released a statement vowing to ‘love this child and be his parents forever.’

‘What we feel right now is not anger, but gratitude. Gratitude and happiness for our healthy, beautiful daughter. “We are grateful to hold him, kiss him, and love him,” she wrote.

‘She is the light of our lives and the only good thing that comes out of it all. No matter how or why this happens, it is ours in every way. The moments we share with him are everything.

‘We are so overwhelmed by the support we have received as we continue to seek answers about whether our own embryos still exist or whether we have biological children anywhere in the world.’

Score’s eggs were removed six years ago and combined with Mills’ sperm through in vitro fertilization. The embryos were later frozen, the lawsuit stated.

According to the complaint, an embryo transfer in February 2025 was unsuccessful, and a second embryo transfer was performed on April 7 of the same year.

The embryos were stored in labeled pipettes, then transferred to a petri dish for rehydration and placed in an incubator to be monitored for one to two hours, the filing said. The embryo is then implanted into the patient.

The complaint stated that after seeing media reports about the couple’s fertility issues, the couple was contacted by a patient who had an embryo transfer at the Orlando Fertility Clinic the same day.

The patient, whose surname was similar to Mills, told the couple that he was also undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment and She gave birth to a baby in December.

Tiffany Score had a failed embryo transfer in February 2025. The transfer request records included a straw labeled ‘Tiffany Score #1’

A straw labeled ‘Tiffany Score #2’ was used in the second transfer on April 7, 2025

Steven Mills and Tiffany Score during her pregnancy with their non-biological daughter Shea

Families who shared photos of their children complained that the woman and Shea had similar skin color.

Mills’ lawyer, Jack Scarola, confirmed to the Daily Mail that the patient who approached the couple was not Patient 004.

‘There is no reason to believe that her baby is the genetic child of our clients,’ he added.

Scarola said there are still questions about the fate of Tiffany and Steven’s undisclosed embryos.

‘Furthermore, the safe transfer, authentication and preservation of the single remaining embryo that the clinic attributes to our clients is still pending,’ he said.

His co-counsel, Mara Hatfield, told the court at the hearing on February 18 that the embryo mix-up likely occurred during the fertilization process six years ago.

He also said the mix-up may have occurred during Score’s embryo implantation at the clinic in April 2025.

Orlando Fertility Clinic will be sold to new owners by May 1. Patients were notified of the change by letter, according to court filings.

The couple sued the clinic and fertility doctor Milton McNichol for negligence in January.

McNichol’s attorneys unsuccessfully filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

They said the case should be dismissed because: ‘Plaintiffs (1) failed to establish a valid cause of action against the Defendant; and (2) otherwise fail to meet the requirements for emergency and/or injunctive relief against the Defendant.’

They claimed that the couple’s request to locate Shea’s biological parents would lead to a violation of other patients’ privacy.

‘Plaintiffs cite no basis in any rule, statute, or case law that would authorize this Court to require Defendant to access patient files and contact patients in his practice whose embryos are stored in Defendant’s office, to send an unsolicited copy of Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint and a copy of a photograph of the infant Plaintiff, with no explanation as to how; The filing states whether their children or those patients are recipients of one of their embryos.

According to the Florida Department of Health, McNichol still has an active medical license. It is scheduled to end in January 2028.

McNichol was reprimanded by the Florida Board of Medicine in May 2024 after an inspection of the clinic in June 2023 revealed several problems.

These reportedly included equipment that ‘did not meet current performance standards’, did not comply with the risk management agenda and contained missing medications.

As a result of the crimes, he was fined $5,000.

The Daily Mail has contacted attorneys for McNichol, the Orlando Fertility Clinic and Patient 004 for comment.