A couple is suing a Florida IVF clinic after learning the baby they welcomed last year is not genetically related to either of them. The lawsuit seeks answers about the child’s biological parents and whether the embryos the couple created and froze may have been transferred to other families.
Tiffany Score and her husband, Steven Mills, filed the complaint against the Fertility Center of Orlando in Longwood, Florida, and Dr. Milton McNichol. The couple went to the clinic for help starting a family and say they were able to create and store three viable embryos.
Score was later implanted with what she believed was one of those embryos. The couple say they had no reason to suspect anything was wrong during the pregnancy.
On Dec. 11, the couple welcomed their daughter, Shea Score Mills.
But immediately after her birth, they say it appeared the baby did not resemble either parent. The couple, who are both White, say the difference was striking.
“It is obvious,” attorney Jack Scarola said.
According to the lawsuit and Scarola, genetic testing later confirmed that Shea is not biologically related to either Score or Mills.
The couple say they are grateful to be parenting “a beautiful, healthy baby girl whom we love more than words can express,” but also feel they have “a moral obligation” to identify her genetic parents.
They also say they fear that at any moment their daughter could be taken from them and placed with her biological parents — a possibility they describe as overwhelming.
By pursuing legal action, the couple said they hope they can find clarity and begin to move forward, while protecting the family they have built.
In a message that was later removed from the clinic’s website, the clinic said it was “actively cooperating with an investigation” to help determine the source of an error that resulted in the birth of a child who is not genetically related to the patient, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The message also stated that “multiple entities are involved” in the process and that the clinic was working to identify when and where the error occurred, the outlet reported.
The couple’s attorney said the clinic’s internal investigation could take four to six weeks, but emphasized the situation is urgent given the baby’s age.
The Fertility Center of Orlando did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An attorney for McNichol said they would not comment on matters that are still pending.
Scarola said the couple is not seeking monetary damages. Instead, he said they are seeking information: who Shea’s biological parents are, and what happened to the embryos the couple created.
He added that the couple says they have received no meaningful information from the clinic so far, which is why they turned to the courts.
In response, an attorney representing the clinic has argued that the clinic cannot disclose private health information about other patients or compel anyone to undergo genetic testing.
Scarola said the court has agreed that any relevant information should be provided to the court, which can then decide what may be shared. A hearing on Friday, Jan. 30, is expected to help establish that process, with the court acting as an intermediary.
No additional court dates have been announced.
