In a statement quoted by ABC News and The Washington Post, Bryan said the clinic “deeply regrets the distress caused by an unprecedented error that resulted in an embryo transfer mix-up.”
“While this ultimately led to the birth of a healthy child, we recognise the profound impact this situation has had on the affected families, and we extend our sincerest apologies.”
Murray said everything seemed normal when she began treatment in early 2023. She did injections to stimulate production of eggs, which were later harvested and fertilised in a lab using a donor’s sperm. She said she became pregnant the second time an embryo was implanted in her uterus.
But her lawsuit says the clinic’s “extreme and outrageous” mistake caused Murray to be “turned into an unwitting surrogate, against her will, for another couple”. She’s seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Her lawyer, Adam Wolf, said Murray still didn’t know what happened to her own embryos. It’s still unclear how the mix-up occurred, he said.
Wolf’s law firm has represented more than 1000 patients taking action against fertility clinics, often for mistakes such as embryos being lost or damaged from being dropped on the ground or being stored in malfunctioning freezers. He said transferring the wrong embryo to a patient appears to be rare.
“Fertility clinics engage in vitally important work,” Wolf said, adding: “With that amazing work comes a real responsibility. And when fertility clinics make mistakes like this, the consequences are life-altering.”
“Errors like this should never occur in a fertility clinic. It’s a Cardinal sin,” Wolf told the virtual press conference.
Murray recalled the day she gave birth and how her joy quickly gave way to confusion and fear.
If this child couldn’t be hers genetically, she wondered, whose child was he? And could they take him away?
That fear kept Murray from posting pictures of the baby on social media, her lawsuit says, or even showing him to friends and family initially. Soon after she gave birth, Murray kept her newborn covered in a blanket to avoid questions at a funeral she attended.
Murray took a DNA test early last year that confirmed the baby didn’t come from one of her embryos. Wolf said his firm notified Coastal Fertility Specialists soon after because Murray hoped the clinic would improve its procedures and safeguards.
The clinic determined who the child’s biological parents were, Wolf said, and let them know Murray had given birth after receiving one of their embryos. The clinic said it had conducted an investigation put in place more safeguards.
Murray said the couple sued her for custody last year. She volunteered to give up the baby, she said, after her lawyers told her she had no chance of winning in court.
That was last May when the baby was five months old. Murray said she hasn’t seen him since.
“I considered the consequences of IVF going in,” Murray said, including the risks of bleeding, infection, sterility and possibly death.
“Never once did I consider I might birth someone else’s child and have them taken from me,” she said. “And I feel like that should be something that women are aware of as an actual possibility.”
She is currently undergoing IVF treatment at another clinic, hoping to one day be a mum.
AP
