Couple who gave birth to wrong baby in IVF mix-up reach custody agreement – National
A Florida couple who accused a fertility clinic of implanting the woman with the wrong embryo has reached a custody agreement with the baby’s biological parents, according to court documents.
Tiffany Score and Steven Mills filed a lawsuit in Orange County Circuit Court on Jan. 22 against IVF Life, Inc., located in the Orlando area under the Fertility Center of Orlando, and the lead reproductive endocrinologist, Dr. Milton McNichol, after learning their daughter, Shea, was not genetically related to either of them.
According to the lawsuit, an embryo was implanted into Score in March 2025, and she gave birth to a “beautiful, healthy female child” in December, but when their daughter appeared to be “racially non-Caucasian,” they ordered genetic testing to see if the baby was theirs.
The lawsuit resulted in a search for the couple whose embryo had been implanted into Score and, in April, Mara Hatfield, one of the lawyers for Score and Mills, told NBC News that DNA testing revealed Shea is 100 per cent South Asian.
Hatfield said the clinic had identified one South Asian couple from 16 sets of potential parents whose egg retrieval and embryo transfer dates were around the same time as Score’s.
In a court filing Friday, viewed by NBC News, People and the Orlando Sentinel, Hatfield wrote that Score, Mills and “Patient 004” had “come to a mutually devised custody agreement.”
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Global News has not independently viewed the latest court documents.
According to NBC News’ reporting, the custody agreement recognizes Score and Mills’ right as the “permanent custodial parents of their daughter.”
Circuit Court Judge Margaret Schreiber supported the decision in a court hearing on Monday to finalize the agreement, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
“I’m glad the parties have reached an agreement while this child is relatively young,” Schreiber said, per the Orlando Sentinel.
Global News has reached out to Hatfield for further comment, but has not received a response.
Score and Mills released a statement through their lawyer in April after a match confirmed the baby’s genetic parents and said that the couple’s identity would remain confidential.
“This ends one chapter in our heartbreaking journey, but it raises new issues that will have to be resolved,” the couple said in a statement issued through their lawyer. “Only one thing is as absolutely certain today as it was on the day our daughter was born — we will love and will be this child’s parents forever.”
Jack Scarola, a lawyer representing the couple, previously told People that “remaining questions about the fate of Tiffany and Steven’s unaccounted for embryos … are still pending.”
“The current legal proceeding will remain open to address those matters,” Scarola added. “However, we expect that we will now also begin to focus on the need for our clients to be compensated for the expenses they have incurred and the severe emotional trauma that they endured and will continue to experience.”
In the court documents, Score and Mills were requesting “to be fully informed of the disposition of their own embryos and to be relieved of the ever-increasing mental anguish of not knowing whether a child or children belonging to them are in someone else’s care.”
They are also asking for the defendants to pay the expense of free genetic testing for all patients and children of all patients whose birth resulted from embryo implantation at the clinic during the past five years, when they had custody of their three embryos.
Score made a social media post in February, sharing a small update on where the situation stood.
“Although we still don’t have answers in what feels like (and is) an impossible and deeply frustrating situation, what we are feeling right now isn’t anger … it’s gratitude. Gratitude and joy for our healthy, beautiful baby girl,” Score wrote.
“Gratitude that we get to hold her, kiss her, and love her. She is the light of our lives and the one beautiful thing that has come from all of this. No matter how or why this happened, she is ours in every way that matters. The moments we share with her are everything. When the three of us are together, we are incredibly happy — she just melts our hearts,” she added.
Score said that they are “completely obsessed” with their daughter’s “smiles and giggles and look forward to more milestones: reading books, ponytails, taking her to the beach, etc.”
“The love we have for her is indescribable and nothing short of the love we would have for our own genetic child,” she wrote.
In April, the Fertility Center of Orlando announced on its website that it was closing on May 20, saying the decision was made “after thoughtful consideration.”
“Patients are welcomed and encouraged to transition their care to CNY Fertility. CNY Fertility is committed to supporting your continuity of care. You will continue to see many of the same trusted and familiar faces who have been part of your care team, along with additional team members dedicated to supporting you on your journey,” the closure notice read.
The clinic noted it understands “that fertility care is deeply personal” and that it was “committed to supporting” its clients “during this transition.”
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