A Georgia woman is suing a fertility clinic after she gave birth to someone else’s biological child instead of her own following in vitro fertilization.
Krystena Murray, of Savannah, filed a lawsuit against Coastal Fertility Specialists on Tuesday, alleging that the clinic’s negligence in mixing up her embryos with a couple’s had caused her ongoing physical and emotional pain.
Newsweek has contacted Murray, her attorneys and Coastal Fertility Specialists for further comment via email.
Why It Matters
Murray had resolved to raise the baby as her own, but the child’s biological parents sued for custody after she reported the mix-up to the clinic. In May, after a DNA test confirmed the child was theirs, Murray gave up the baby to avoid a legal battle her lawyers said she wouldn’t win.
Adam Wolf, one of Murray’s attorneys, said the clinic’s mistake had been life-altering for Murray. He said such errors would continue until fertility clinics were subject to “real regulations, reporting requirements and mandatory certification programs for lab staff.”
What To Know
According to her complaint, Murray was unaware of the clinic’s mistake until she gave birth in December 2023. Though she and her sperm donor are both white, the baby she delivered is Black.
Coastal Fertility Specialists, which operates clinics in Georgia and South Carolina, apologized for what it called “an unprecedented error that resulted in an embryo transfer mix-up” in a statement to the Associated Press. It said its staff had since adopted new safeguards to prevent similar mistakes from occurring in the future.
Murray told reporters during a virtual news conference on Tuesday that she had spent almost two years as a single woman trying to get pregnant through IVF.
She was prescribed drugs to stimulate the production of eggs and administered them daily by needle for more than two weeks, according to her lawsuit. Several of her eggs were retrieved and fertilized using a donor’s sperm. She had selected a donor who resembled her: “white, with dirty blond hair and blue eyes.”
Murray was “overwhelmed with joy and hope” when she learned she was pregnant, the lawsuit said, but her joy turned to confusion and fear after she gave birth and it was clear the child had not come from one of her embryos.
“Ms. Murray had no issues or concerns with the Baby’s race, other than the fact that it indicated to her that he was clearly not related to her,” the lawsuit said.
It added that she was anxious as she attempted to bond with her new baby, as she wondered whose child she had given birth to and whether someone would take him away.
The mix-up kept her from posting pictures of the baby on social media or allowing him to be seen by family and friends, the lawsuit said. People who saw her child in public questioned whether he was hers and made “awkward and inappropriate comments,” the lawsuit continued.
Seeking answers, Murray purchased an at-home DNA test—which, in January 2024, confirmed the baby was not biologically hers.
Wolf said Coastal Fertility Specialists was notified soon afterward because Murray hoped the clinic would improve its procedures and ensure such an error would never occur again. She also wanted the child’s biological parents to be aware of what had happened, he said.
When the couple sued for custody, Murray had to hire family law attorneys in multiple states. She decided to voluntarily give up her baby during a hearing in May after her attorneys concluded she would lose the custody case.
“After spending every moment with her child for the prior five months, Ms. Murray has not seen her child ever since,” her lawsuit said.
The clinic’s mistake led Murray to be “turned into an unwitting surrogate, against her will, for another couple,” it added. “She carried, lovingly cared for, and delivered a child who ended up not being biologically related to her. And then, for nearly half a year. She bonded with the child—her child—in addition to her bonding with the baby while he was still in the womb.”
What People Are Saying
Krystena Murray said during the news conference: “I have never felt so violated, and the situation has left me emotionally and physically broken. It has affected every aspect of my life in some way, and words cannot describe the continued destruction that it has on my life.
“I spent my entire life wanting to be a mom. I loved, nurtured and grew my child, and I would have done literally anything in my power to keep him. My baby is not genetically mine. He doesn’t have my blood. He doesn’t have my eyes. But he is and will always be my son … My hope in sharing my story is that this will help prevent this from ever happening to anyone else trying to start a family of their own.”
Adam Wolf, Murray’s attorney and a partner at Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway and Wise, said: “Coastal Fertility Specialists made a serious mistake, and the consequences are life-altering for Krystena. This is not the first IVF mix-up case that I’ve handled, and sadly, it will not be the last. A big reason is the lack of regulation.
“Unfortunately, the United States is one of the few developed countries without meaningful oversight over fertility clinic laboratories. Until IVF clinics are subject to real regulations, reporting requirements and mandatory certification programs for lab staff, these types of errors will continue to occur.”
Coastal Fertility Specialists said in its statement to the AP: “This was an isolated event with no further patients affected. We are doing everything we can to make things right for those affected by this incident.”
What Happens Next
Murray is seeking a jury trial and monetary damages in excess of $75,000.
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