California couple sue clinic for alleged IVF swap 'horror'

A California couple gave birth to a stranger's child after being given the wrong embryo by a fertility clinic during in vitro fertilisation (IVF), says a lawsuit.

Daphna and Alexander Cardinale say they gave birth in September 2019 to a girl that looked nothing like them. After a DNA test, they found the couple that carried their daughter to term, and together decided to swap the girls.

This is not the first alleged mix-up during an IVF procedure.

IVF is a procedure during which a woman's eggs are fertilised by man's sperm in a laboratory before the embryos are implanted into a woman's uterus.

The Cardinales are suing the Los Angeles-based fertility centre, the California Center for Reproductive Health (CCRH), as well as In VitroTech Labs, an embryology lab.

The lawsuit alleges medical malpractice, negligence and fraudulent concealment. Neither company responded to a BBC News request for comment.

In an emotional news conference on Monday, Mrs Cardinale said her family's "heartbreak and confusion can't be understated".

"Our memories of childbirth will always be tainted by the sick reality that our biological child was given to someone else, and the baby that I fought to bring into this world was not mine to keep."

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Source: BBC News, 9 November 2021