Biological parents found in embryo mix-up case. What happens next?
At the center of the fertility embryo mix are the biological parents of a child identified. Still, a lawyer for the couple raising the child said the transfer was not planned or considered.
Tiffany Score and Steven Mills are the Florida couple at the center of the saga.
According to January data, Score gave birth to a daughter on December 11 after receiving in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment at the Orlando Fertility Clinic in April 2025. case clinic, IVF Life Inc., and the physician who runs the practice, Dr. A lawsuit was filed against Milton McNichol.
A photo of Tiffany Score and Steven Mills with their baby. The baby’s face was blurred by the family’s lawyer.
The baby she delivered appeared to be a different race from Score and Mills, who are both white, and tests showed she had no “genetic relationship” to the parents, according to the lawsuit.
The child had been in the couple’s care since birth. Here’s a look at the case and what might happen next now that the biological parents have been found.
‘We will love this child forever and be his parents’
Genetic test results recently confirmed the identity of the child’s biological parents, the couple’s attorney, Jack Scarola, said in a statement emailed to USA TODAY on April 23. However, their identities are not disclosed due to privacy requests.
“This ends one chapter of our heartbreaking journey, but it also raises new issues that need to be resolved,” the couple said in a written statement made by their lawyers. he said. “Questions about the composition of our own embryos remain unanswered and are much less likely to be answered under the conditions currently known to exist.
“Only one thing is as certain today as it was the day our daughter was born; we will love this child and we will be her parents forever.”
The couple believes their only remaining embryo remains in the clinic. The embryo will be transplanted in early May, according to court documents. The couple applied to another facility for treatment.
According to the lawsuit, the couple is concerned that their embryos may have been implanted in other patients, that they may be pregnant, or that they may be the parents of one or more children.
The lawsuit demands that the clinic provide free genetic testing for all patients and children whose births resulted from embryo implantation in the past five years while the couple’s embryos are in the clinic’s possession.
A photo of Tiffany Score with her baby. The baby’s face was blurred by the family’s lawyer.
What happened to the fertility clinic the couple used?
Earlier this year, the clinic sent a message. letter Notifying patients that it is closed. The clinic simultaneously announced that CNY Fertility would open at the same location. The reason for the closure was not specified in the letter.
The business also did not say when its last day of operations would be but asked patients to make arrangements to have all cryopreserved samples shipped no later than April 15. The plaintiffs alleged in court filings that McNichol was affiliated with the organization that took over the clinic.
What happens now that the biological parents have been identified?
It is unclear what will happen now that the child’s biological parents have been located. Scarola confirmed in an email to USA TODAY that the couple is not in the process of returning the child to his genetic parents.
The status report submitted on April 22 stated that the biological parents and the couple would meet face to face about the next steps.
Although there is no transfer planned at this time, the lawsuit states that Score and Mills would willingly keep her in their care but recognize that the baby must be legally and morally united with its genetic parents as long as they are fit, capable and willing to receive it, the complaint states.
More: Fertility clinic closes after couple gives birth to someone else’s baby
The lawsuit does not provide for the specific damages sought.
“There is no adequate remedy at law for the ongoing loss, injury and damage suffered by plaintiffs as a direct result of the defendants’ acts and omissions described above,” the lawsuit states.
Michelle Del Rey is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at mdelrey@usatoday.com.
This article first appeared on USA TODAY: Biological parents were found in the embryo mix in Florida. What happens next?
