White Woman Sues Fertility Clinic, Says She Gave Birth To A Black Baby That Was Taken Away

The fertility clinic called it 'an unprecedented error that resulted in a embryo transfer mix-up.'

Krystena Murray from Savannah, Georgia, has filed a civil lawsuit against Coastal Fertility Specialists, claiming she gave birth to the wrong baby and was forced to give it up, the Associated Press reports.

Murray, who is white, gave birth to a baby boy in December 2023 and immediately knew something was wrong. She said she had a white sperm donor but gave birth to a Black baby, learning later that doctors had transferred another patient’s embryo instead of her own.

Despite the mixup, she raised the baby until he was five months old. But once she reported the mistake to the clinic, staff members found the baby’s biological parents who demanded custody.

After realizing she couldn’t win the legal battle, Murray gave up the baby.

“I have never felt so violated and the situation has left me emotionally and physically broken,” Murray said. “I spent my entire life wanting to be a mom. I loved, nurtured, and grew my child and I would have done literally anything to keep him.”

In a suit filed on Feb. 18, Murray labeled the clinic’s mistake as “extreme and outrageous” turning her “into an unwitting surrogate, against her will, for another couple.” According to CBS News, she hasn’t seen the child since handing him over to his biological parents in May 2024. She is looking for a jury trial in addition to $75,000 in judgment and other damages.

“To carry a baby, fall in love with him, deliver him, and build the uniquely special bond between mother and baby, all to have him taken away,” she said in a statement through her attorney Adam Wolf. “I’ll never fully recover from this.”

Wolf, whose law firm has represented over 1,000 patients taking action against fertility clinics over mistakes, said cases like Murray’s are rare but do happen.

“Fertility clinics engage in vitally important work,” Wolf said. “With that amazing work comes a real responsibility. And when fertility clinics make mistakes like this, the consequences are life-altering.”

In-vitro fertilization treatments in the United States have increased by 33% between 2018 and 2023.

In an emailed statement, Coastal Fertility Specialists called Murray’s incident “an unprecedented error that resulted in an embryo transfer mix-up.”

“This was an isolated event with no further patients affected,” the statement continued. “We are doing everything we can to make things right for those affected by this incident.” The clinic said it has adopted new safeguards to prevent such mistakes from happening again.