A Florida couple has filed a lawsuit against a fertility clinic after discovering that an embryo mix-up during IVF treatment led to the birth of a child who is not biologically related to either of them.
Tiffany Score and Steven Mills allege that the Fertility Centre of Orlando mistakenly implanted another patient’s embryo during treatment at its facility, resulting in the birth of a baby who does not share their genetic background. The lawsuit was filed last week in Orange County Circuit Court and names IVF Life Inc. and its lead reproductive endocrinologist, Dr Milton McNichol, as defendants.
According to court documents, Score and Mills created and stored three viable embryos at the clinic in 2020 through in vitro fertilisation. The embryos were preserved for future use. In April 2025, one embryo was implanted into Score’s uterus, despite clinic safeguards that were meant to prevent errors of this nature.
Score later gave birth to a healthy baby girl on December 11, 2025. However, the couple says they immediately suspected something was wrong after the delivery. Both parents are Caucasian, and the lawsuit states that the child “displayed the physical appearance of a racially non-Caucasian child.”
Subsequent genetic testing confirmed that the baby has no biological connection to either Score or Mills.
Their lawyer, John Scarola, said he contacted the clinic on January 5, demanding answers about what happened to his clients’ embryos and calling for efforts to reunite the baby with her genetic parents. The couple is also concerned that their own embryo may have been mistakenly implanted into another patient, meaning their biological child could now be in someone else’s care.
Court filings describe the emotional toll of the discovery, noting that Score and Mills formed a strong bond with the baby throughout the pregnancy and since her birth. The child remains in their custody. While the couple says they would be willing to raise her, they believe they have a moral and legal responsibility to address the situation.
“They have fallen in love with this child,” Scarola said. “They would be thrilled in the knowledge that they could raise this child. But their concern is that this is someone else’s child, and someone could show up at any time and claim the baby and take that baby away from them.”
The lawsuit is seeking emergency court intervention, including an order requiring the clinic to notify all potentially affected patients and to fund extensive genetic testing to determine whether other families were impacted by an embryo mix-up.
An emergency hearing was held on Wednesday, January 28, before Judge Margaret Schreiber. Scarola told the court that the error could have occurred either when the embryos were stored in 2020 or during the implantation process in 2025. He called for up to five years of clinic-funded genetic testing.
Scarola described the incident as a “horrendous error,” while acknowledging that such cases are rare. Judge Schreiber also noted the legal complexity of the matter, saying Florida law offers limited guidance for resolving disputes of this nature.
“There’s not a lot of Florida law for you all to reach a resolution that will provide the answers that the plaintiffs are seeking, and the protections the defendants want to ensure remain in place for their clients,” she said.
Dr McNichol, who received his medical degree from Loma Linda University School of Medicine in 2004, has been widely praised for his clinical expertise and patient care. According to Issuewire.com, he has received multiple Patients’ Choice Awards, Compassionate Doctor recognitions, and was ranked among Florida’s top ten doctors in 2014.
In a statement later removed from its website, IVF Life said it is “actively cooperating with an investigation to support one of our patients in determining the source of an error that resulted in the birth of a child who is not genetically related to them.”
