Woman Sues IVF Clinic After Giving Birth To Another Couple’s Child

A Georgia woman has filed a lawsuit against a fertility clinic after an embryo mix-up led her to unknowingly carry and give birth to another couple’s child.

Krystena Murray, 38, says she only discovered the shocking mistake after delivering the baby in December 2023, when she immediately noticed that the infant’s appearance did not match her own. A subsequent DNA test confirmed that the child was not biologically related to her.

Murray, a wedding photographer from Savannah, had undergone in vitro fertilization (IVF) at Coastal Fertility Specialists, a clinic with locations in South Carolina and Georgia. She selected a sperm donor who resembled her, expecting a child with blond hair and blue eyes.

However, upon delivery, she realized something was wrong—the baby was a dark-skinned African American boy.

“The birth of my child was supposed to be the happiest moment of my life,” Murray said in a news conference. “Instead, it was the scariest.”

Despite the unexpected revelation, Murray bonded with and raised the baby for five months, loving him as her own. But after confirming the embryo mix-up, she alerted the clinic, which then identified the biological parents.

A legal battle ensued, and Murray eventually had to relinquish custody.

“I walked into court as a mother with a child who loved me,” she said. “I walked out with an empty stroller while they left with my son.”

Murray’s attorney, Adam Wolf, says she has not been given clear answers about what happened to her own embryos—whether they were implanted in another patient or remain in storage.

“This is the cardinal sin for fertility clinics,” Wolf said. “It should never happen.”

The lawsuit, filed against Coastal Fertility Specialists and its lab director, Dr. Jeffrey Gray, accuses them of negligence and seeks damages.

In response, the clinic admitted to the mistake, calling it an isolated incident and stating that additional safeguards have been put in place to prevent future errors.

Although IVF mix-ups are rare, this is not the first case of its kind.

2019: A New York couple sued a California clinic after giving birth to another couple’s twins.
2021: Two California couples accidentally raised each other’s biological children for months before realizing the error and swapping them back.

For Murray, the loss is profound. “I spent my entire life wanting to be a mom. I loved, nurtured, and grew my child—and I would have done anything to keep him,” she said.