SAVANNAH, Georgia — A 38-year-old woman is suing a fertility clinic after it was revealed that the wrong embryo was implanted in her, leading to a shocking discovery when she gave birth.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in Georgia state court, claims that Krystena Murray “unknowingly and unwillingly” carried a child who was not biologically related to her. She only learned this after delivering a baby boy. Five months later, she had to hand over custody of the child to his biological parents, further adding to her distress.
Murray, a wedding photographer from Savannah, sought the help of Coastal Fertility Specialists, which operates IVF clinics in South Carolina and Georgia, to conceive and raise a child with the help of a sperm donor.
The lawsuit states that Murray chose a sperm donor who resembled her: a white man with dirty blond hair and blue eyes. In 2023, Coastal Fertility implanted an embryo into Murray. However, when she gave birth in December of that year, Murray immediately felt that something was wrong. The baby she delivered was a “dark-skinned, African American baby,” despite her donor’s characteristics.
Murray shared her emotional experience at a Tuesday news conference. “The birth of my child was supposed to be the happiest moment of my life, and honestly, it was. But it was also the scariest moment of my life,” she said. She feared the baby would be taken from her. “All of the love and joy I felt seeing him for the first time was immediately replaced by fear. How could this have happened?”
Despite the shock, Murray bonded with the baby and loved him as her own, even after conducting a DNA test, according to the lawsuit.
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