Krystena Murray said she became pregnant after undergoing in vitro fertilization two years ago and was unaware until the fertility clinic produced a fateful mistake.
In December 2023, Murray gave birth to a healthy boy.
However, she also quickly knew it would not develop from one of the bloated eggs in her own lab.
The baby was black, but both Murray and her sperm donor were white.
She says she later learned that the doctor had transferred another patient's embryo in place of herself.
Anyway, Murray decided to raise a child.
However, after reporting confusion to the fertility clinic, the staff followed and notified the baby's biological parents, she says.
They demanded custody, Murray said, and she gave up the 5 month old boy to avoid a legal battle she can't win.
Murray, 38, of Savannah, filed a civil lawsuit against a coastal fertility expert on Tuesday. He claimed that the clinic's negligence in mixing her embryos with other couples caused her ongoing pain and distress.
“I never felt that I had violated, and the situation left me emotionally and physically broken,” Murray told reporters at a virtual press conference. “I wanted to be a mom for the rest of my life. I loved, raised my kids, raised my kids. I would literally do anything to keep him.”
Coastal infertility experts run clinics in Savannah, with four others running in South Carolina.
The medical practice apologised in an email statement about what was called “an unprecedented error that caused confusion in embryo transfer.”
Staff said they adopted new safeguards to ensure that similar mistakes do not occur in the future.
“This was an isolated event and no further patients were affected,” the statement said. “We are doing everything we can to get things right for the people affected by this incident.”
Murray said when he began treatment in early 2023, everything seemed normal.
She injected her to stimulate egg production. Eggs were later collected and fertilized in the lab using donor sperm.
She said she was pregnant for the second time the embryo was implanted in the uterus.
However, in her lawsuit, a “extreme and outrageous” mistake at the clinic has led to Murray “turning her to an unconscious proxy for another couple, despite her will.”
She seeks unspecified financial damages.
Her lawyer, Adam Wolf, said Murray still doesn't know what happened to her embryo.
It is still unknown how the confusion occurred, he said.
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Wolf's law firm represents more than 1,000 patients taking action against fertility clinics. It's often about mistakes like preventing embryos from falling to the ground or being stored in malfunctioning freezers.
He said it appears rare to transfer the wrong embryo to a patient.
“Fertility clinics are engaged in a significantly more important job,” Wolf said. “There's a real responsibility for that incredible job, and when a fertility clinic makes such a mistake, the outcome is life-changing.”
Murray remembered the day she had given birth and how her joy quickly gave way to confusion and fear.
If this child had not been genetically able to become her, she wondered, who was he? And can they take him away?
The horror has prevented Murray from posting photos of the baby on social media, according to her lawsuit, or initially showing him to friends and family.
Shortly after she gave birth, Murray continued to cover her newborn with a blanket to avoid questions at the funeral she attended.
Murray had a DNA test earlier last year to make sure the baby was not coming from one of the embryos.
Wolf said his company immediately notified coastal fertility experts as Murray wanted the clinic to improve its procedures and safety measures.
The clinic decided who the child's biological parents were, Wolf said, and informed them that Murray had given birth after receiving one of their embryos.
Murray said the couple sued her for custody last year.
She volunteered to give up the baby after her lawyer told her she had no chance to win in court.
That was last May when the baby was 5 months old.
Murray said he hadn't seen him since.
“I thought about the consequences of getting IVF in,” Murray said, including the risk of bleeding, infection, infertility and perhaps death.
“I never thought I might give birth to another person's children and have them take me,” she said. “And I think that should be something women see as a real possibility.”
