US couple sues fertilityclinic after embryo mix-up

NEW YORK: A New York couple is suing a fertility clinic after the woman gave birth to two babies that were actually other people´s children — because the wrong embryos were implanted in her uterus.

The couple filed suit early this month in a federal court in Brooklyn, seeking compensation after suffering what they say are “significant and permanent emotional injuries from which they will not recover.”

The man and woman, who are only identified by their initials in the court documents, began in-vitro fertilization treatment at the CHA Fertility Center in Los Angeles in January 2018. They had been married for six years but failed to conceive. Eight embryos were created on their behalf. A first implantation in July 2018 was unsuccessful, but a second effort the following month worked, and the woman became pregnant with what she believed to be twin girls. But doubts arose after the first sonograms, which showed the fetuses were boys.

The couple were confused, as only one of the eight embryos was male. Doctors at the clinic “assured them they were girls and that there was nothing wrong,” according to the court complaint.

In March this year, the woman gave birth via cesarean section to two boys, “neither of which was of Asian descent,” as the parents are. Genetic testing confirmed that neither the man nor the woman “was genetically related to the babies... and that the two male babies were not genetically related to each other,” the complaint says.