A Savannah, Georgia, woman is suing a fertility clinic after she says she unknowingly carried and delivered another couple’s child due to an alleged embryo mix-up during her in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment, according to a lawsuit filed in Chatham County.
Krystena Murray, 38, of Savannah, contends in the complaint that she underwent IVF treatment with Coastal Fertility Specialists in early 2023, intending to become pregnant using an embryo created from her own egg and donor sperm. News reports say Murray chose a white sperm donor with “dirty blonde hair and blue eyes” to increase the likelihood that her child would resemble her.
According to Murray’s lawsuit, she became pregnant on her second embryo transfer in May 2023. She carried the pregnancy to term and delivered a healthy baby boy on December 29, 2023, anticipating that he was biologically hers. What happened next, she says, shattered her expectations.
Upon seeing her newborn, Murray – who is white – immediately noticed that the baby was African American, a circumstance that raised immediate questions given her own ethnicity and the donor’s.
The complaint states that Murray was “terrified and shocked” at that realization, prompting her to seek clarity through further testing, per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The at-home DNA test reveals the truth
In late January 2024, Murray purchased an at-home DNA test that confirmed her fears: the child she had carried and delivered was not genetically related to her. After notifying Coastal Fertility Specialists of the results, the clinic informed Murray that it believed an embryo belonging to another couple had been inadvertently transferred to her.
As the Associated Press reports, Murray’s complaint alleges that the clinic failed in its duty to properly handle, label, and implant the correct embryo, resulting in what she describes as a “preventable nightmare” for her and all families involved. The lawsuit accuses Coastal Fertility Specialists of negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, lack of informed consent, and other legal claims related to the error.
Murray bonded but still gave up custody
Despite the unexpected circumstances, Murray says she bonded with the newborn after his birth, breastfeeding him and taking him to medical appointments. But after Coastal Fertility Specialists located the child’s biological parents and informed them of the mix-up, that couple initiated legal action for custody.
By May 2024, when the baby boy was about five months old, Murray relinquished custody at a family court hearing after her attorneys advised her that she was unlikely to prevail in court. She says she has not seen the child since giving him up and continues to suffer emotionally and psychologically from the experience.
In her lawsuit, Murray is seeking damages for emotional distress, medical costs, and other losses she claims resulted from the clinic’s alleged errors. She describes having been left “emotionally and physically broken” by the ordeal.
Fertility clinic mistakes involving embryo handling are rare, but when they occur, they raise complex questions about medical standards, patient consent, and regulatory oversight. Murray’s attorneys argue that improved safeguards and accountability are necessary to prevent similar cases in the future.
Coastal Fertility Specialists has acknowledged the incident in other reporting and described it as an “unprecedented error” while expressing regret for the distress caused. The clinic, which operates multiple offices in Georgia and South Carolina, has said it implemented additional safeguards after discovering the mistake.
