Krystena Murray became pregnant after undergoing in vitro fertilisation two years ago, and said she was unaware until she gave birth that the fertility clinic had made a fateful mistake.
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In December 2023, Murray delivered a healthy baby boy. But she also knew immediately that he did not develop from one of her own lab-fertilised eggs. The baby was black, while Murray and her sperm donor are both white. She says she later learned doctors had transferred another patient’s embryo instead of her own.
Regardless, Murray resolved to raise the child. But after reporting the mix-up to the fertility clinic, she says, its staff tracked down and notified the baby’s biological parents. They demanded custody, Murray said, and she gave up the five-month-old boy to avoid a legal fight she could not win.
Murray, 38, of Savannah filed a civil lawsuit on Tuesday against Coastal Fertility Specialists, alleging the clinic’s negligence in mixing up her embryos with the other couple’s caused her ongoing pain and anguish.
“I have never felt so violated and the situation has left me emotionally and physically broken,” Murray told reporters during a virtual news conference. “I spent my entire life wanting to be a mum. I loved, nurtured and grew my child and I would have done literally anything to keep him.”
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Coastal Fertility Specialists operates a clinic in Savannah and four others in neighbouring South Carolina. Isabel Bryan, executive director for Coastal Fertility Specialists, did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment Tuesday. Online court records did not list a lawyer for the clinic.