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Suit: Couple Went From 'Ecstatic' to 'Shocked' in IVF Mix-Up

Mother gave birth to twins who turned out to be the genetic children of 2 other couples
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 8, 2019 7:11 AM CDT
Suit: Couple Went From 'Ecstatic' to 'Shocked' in IVF Mix-Up
A mix-up no IVF patient wants to experience.   (Getty Images/kzenon)

A couple from Flushing, NY, went to a fertility clinic that self-billed as the "mecca of reproductive medicine," and they did succeed in getting pregnant with twins—but then had to give both babies up after what the Daily Beast calls a "mind-boggling mix-up." That's the subject of a new lawsuit cited by CNN, which reports that, after the twins of "AP" and "YZ" were born in March, their parents, who are both Asian, were "shocked" to see neither of the babies was Asian. The Queens couple had used the California-based CHA Fertility in 2018 after not being able to get pregnant during their six-year marriage, and they were "ecstatic" to find out they were pregnant in September. The first sign something was amiss, however, came when a sonogram determined the twins were male—a fact that "confused" the couple, as they'd been told the embryos transferred to them had been female, the complaint states.

When they inquired, they say they were told the sonogram wasn't accurate. After the twins were born, they were indeed boys, and testing proved they weren't the couple's. The babies weren't even related to each other—one baby genetically matched to another couple that was a CHA Fertility client, while his "brother" matched to a third couple. "Plaintiffs were required to relinquish custody of Baby A and Baby B, thus suffering the loss of two children," notes the suit. "Plaintiffs have suffered significant and permanent emotional injuries for which they will not recover." AP and YZ, who still don't know what happened to their two embryos, are seeking more than $100,000 for fertility costs and damages. "There are all sorts of checks and balances for this not happening," a specialist for the nonprofit Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine tells the New York Post. "Someone was super-asleep at the wheel." (A "deeply unfortunate mix-up" at a Dutch IVF lab.)

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