IVF embryo mix-up

[Anonymous]

This case is fascinating and also a little terrifying if you think about it (this could happen to any of us)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15511491/Florida-IFV-clinic-wrong-baby-lawsuit.html

Would you consider a lawsuit?

[Anonymous]

in the picture the baby looks like a doll. yes - lawsuit. this is substandard care.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely a lawsuit. Horrifying.

[Anonymous]

I am not a suer, but yes, they need to be sued and shut down.

[Anonymous]

Common sense for $5000000 Alex.

[Anonymous]

This podcast episode about two families was heart wrenching: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/podcasts/the-daily/ivf-mix-swapped-babies.html

[Anonymous]

This case brings up truly difficult legal and ethical questions:

- who are the legal parents here?

- what are the responsibilities of the birth couple?

- what rights do the biological parents out there have with regard to the child?

- what happened to the couple’s actual embryo(s) ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This case brings up truly difficult legal and ethical questions:

- who are the legal parents here?

- what are the responsibilities of the birth couple?

- what rights do the biological parents out there have with regard to the child?

- what happened to the couple’s actual embryo(s) ?

There was a recent highly publicized case where the couple realized they had unwittingly served as the surrogate for a baby that was of a different ethnicity due to clinic’s blunder. The biological parents sued and won custody.

[Anonymous]

and what if the different ethnicity wasn't so obvious? makes you wonder how many other lab errors have happened that have gone undetected by parents

[Anonymous]

The non-bio parents really seem to be doing the right thing here. Impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:and what if the different ethnicity wasn't so obvious? makes you wonder how many other lab errors have happened that have gone undetected by parents

I have not looked into the numbers.

But the expanding number of people doing 23 & Me, or other DNA databases, must be revealing more and more of these mistakes.

[Anonymous]

I was lightly sedated during egg retrieval process, but DH was there, and I do remember that there was this very deliberate process in which staff person 1 called [my name] staff person 2 read and called out [my name] staff person 3 did same, and showed labeled containers to DH. Same process for DH sperm retrieval. When we did embryo implantation, another round of multiple people reading and confirming names and labels. This was 20 years ago. So, people have long figured out a way to QC this process. No excuse. Families should absolutely sue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was lightly sedated during egg retrieval process, but DH was there, and I do remember that there was this very deliberate process in which staff person 1 called [my name] staff person 2 read and called out [my name] staff person 3 did same, and showed labeled containers to DH. Same process for DH sperm retrieval. When we did embryo implantation, another round of multiple people reading and confirming names and labels. This was 20 years ago. So, people have long figured out a way to QC this process. No excuse. Families should absolutely sue.

We did the same as you on our IVF journey; did it together to try to really make more about us and maybe remove some of that feeling of being in a “process” or procedure (which in reality, I guess it is).

But I noticed there was one difference in our process for DH sperm retrieval; we went into the room alone, locked the door, DH followed the instruction poster and I made sure he wrote all the information correctly on the little plastic cup. But then, there was a small metal door (which I assume was connected right to the lab), and I just placed the cup in there and closed the door. No one read anything out, let alone several people reading it, as in your case.

Now I am second-guessing that part. I’m not going to run out for a DNA test (lol), but that part was somewhat different.