Los Angeles: Two California couples gave birth to each others’ babies after a mix-up at a fertility clinic and spent months raising children who weren’t theirs before swapping the infants, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles.
Daphna Cardinale said she and her husband, Alexander, had immediate suspicions that the girl she gave birth to in late 2019 wasn’t theirs because the child had a darker complexion than they do.
Daphna and Alexander Cardinale unwittingly raised the wrong child for nearly three months before DNA tests confirmed their embryo had been swapped, according to the lawsuit.Credit:Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane & Conway via AP
They suppressed their doubts because they fell in love with the baby and trusted the in vitro fertilisation process and their doctors, Daphna said. Learning months later that she had been pregnant with another couple’s baby, and that another woman had been carrying her child, caused enduring trauma, she said.
“I was overwhelmed by feelings of fear, betrayal, anger and heartbreak,” Daphna said during a news conference with her husband announcing the lawsuit. “I was robbed of the ability to carry my own child. I never had the opportunity to grow and bond with her during pregnancy, to feel her kick.”
The Cardinales’ complaint accuses the Los Angeles-based California Centre for Reproductive Health (CCRH) and its owner, Dr Eliran Mor, of medical malpractice, breach of contract, negligence and fraud. It demands a jury trial and seeks unspecified damages.
Yvonne Telles, the office administrator for the centre, declined to comment on Monday. Mor could not be reached for comment.
The two other parents involved in the alleged mix-up wish to remain anonymous and plan a similar lawsuit in the coming days, according to attorney Adam Wolf, who represents all four parents.
The lawsuit claims CCRH mistakenly implanted the other couple’s embryo into Daphna and transferred the Cardinales’ embryo – made from Daphna’s egg and Alexander’s sperm – into the other woman.
The babies, both girls, were born a week apart in September 2019. Both couples unwittingly raised the wrong child for nearly three months before DNA tests confirmed that the embryos were swapped, according to the filing.
California parents sue after getting another couple’s embryo
Source: Philippines Alive
