White woman gives birth to Black baby after IVF mix-up – then she was forced to give up infant five months later
A NEW mom who conceived with in vitro fertilization got a massive shock when she gave birth and instantly realized the baby wasn't actually hers.
Krystena Murray, who is white and found a white sperm donor, couldn't believe her eyes when she gave birth to a Black son in December 2023.
Once she investigated the life-changing mixup, DNA testing proved that Murray wasn't related to the child at all, she revealed in an emotional press conference Tuesday.
"All of the love and joy I felt seeing him for the first time was immediately replaced by fear," she said.
"How could this have happened?"
Despite learning the baby wasn't her biological child, Murray, a 38-year-old wedding photographer who lives in Savannah, Georgia, decided to raise the boy as her own.
read more news stories
But hanging over her head the entire time was the fear that the little boy could be taken away at any second - despite the fact that she carried him for nine months.
Just five months after giving birth, her nightmare became a reality when she was forced to give the baby away to his biological parents.
When the clinic had tracked down the parents to inform them of the mixup, they demanded custody of their son.
Murray described walking into a courtroom and walking out with nothing but an empty stroller.
Most read in The US Sun
"The birth of my child was supposed to be the happiest moment of my life, and honestly, it was," Murray told reporters on Tuesday.
"But it was also the scariest moment of my life."
On Tuesday, Murray filed a civil lawsuit against Coastal Fertility Specialists, which operates clinics in South Carolina and Georgia, for allegedly mixing up the embryos.
She claims the fateful mistake has caused severe emotional pain and ongoing anguish over losing a child.
"I have never felt so violated and the situation had left me emotionally and physically broken," she said in the news conference.
"I spent my entire life wanting to be a mom. I loved, nurtured, and grew my child, and I would have done literally anything to keep him."
During her preliminary appointments, Murray requested a sperm donor who was white with sandy blonde hair so the baby would look like her.
She prayed that the clinic had only mixed up her donors but still used her egg and was devastated to learn that she had no relation to the baby.
Now she feels like she was turned into an "unwitting surrogate against her will for another couple," the lawsuit claims.
TRAGIC FALLOUT
In a statement, Coastal Fertility said it has apologized profusely for the error and is doing everything in its power to correct it.
The group called the mixup "unprecedented" and stressed that no other patient at their facility had gone through such a traumatic experience.
"This was an isolated event with no further patients affected," Coastal Fertility told the Associated Press in a statement.
"We are doing everything we can to make things right for those affected by this incident."
Murray is being represented by Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway & Wise, which has brought more than 1,000 legal cases against fertility clinics.
Her attorney, Adam Wolf, said they have no clue how such a drastic oversight could have taken place.
"Fertility clinics engage in vitally important work," he said.
"With that amazing work comes a real responsibility. And when fertility clinics make mistakes like this, the consequences are life-altering."
Like many other medical procedures, IVF comes with serious risks, including bleeding, sterility, and death.
Read More on The Sun
Murray was ready to risk her safety for the opportunity to become a mother, but she never once considered her child could be taken away for good.
"I feel like that should be something that women are aware of as an actual possibility," she said.
