Embryo mix-up likely occurred nearly six years ago in lab, attorney says

An attorney for a woman who was implanted with the wrong embryo and in December gave birth to a girl who is neither her nor her partner’s biological child told a judge Tuesday it’s “more likely than not” the mix-up happened in the clinic’s laboratory nearly six years ago.

In March 2020, Tiffany Score had her embryos extracted by a Longwood clinic run by IVF Life Inc. and joined with her partner Steven Mills’ sperm to create an embryo that was then cryogenically frozen.

At that time, several other individuals also used the clinic for the same process, attorney Mara Hatfield told Circuit Court Judge Margaret Schreiber during the virtual hearing.

“Our client’s embryos probably got swapped with embryos” of other patients, Hatfield said. “It appears to us…that is the source of the error here.”

But the mix-up also could have occurred on April 20, 2025, when an embryo was implanted into Score at the clinic, Hatfield added.

Another woman has come forward to say she was in that clinic on that day, also to be implanted with an embryo. It was not revealed in court whether that woman delivered a child, but Hatfield said the woman is willing to undergo genetic testing.

Score and Mills, a Brevard County couple, sued IVF Life — which does business as Fertility Center of Orlando — last month for implanting Score with the the wrong embryo.

They discovered what happened after after Score gave birth to a healthy girl. The Caucasian couple realized the baby was not of the same race, and genetic tests ordered by Scout and Mills confirmed the baby was not their biological child.

The couple filed a lawsuit against Dr. Milton McNichol, who runs the clinic, and IVF Life Inc.

Though they love the baby, and are happy to raise her, they feel they must try to contact her biological parents. They are also fearful that someone else can claim her and seek to take custody, their attorneys have said.

Because their embryos were created in the clinic’s lab nearly six years ago, they are also worried one of their embryos may have been erroneously implanted in another woman, who is now raising their biological child.

They want the Orange County judge to order the clinic to share what happened with other clinic patients and for the clinic to pay for the genetic testing of any child born under the clinic’s care in the past five years. And they want full accounting of any of their other embryos, which were stored at the clinic. The clinic had told the couple that they produced three viable embryos that were frozen.

Hatfield and the couple’s other attorneys called for Tuesday’s virtual hearing, claiming the clinic has been stalling in providing more information.

The more time passes, the stronger the bonds between the parents and the child become, making it more difficult to give the baby to her biological parents, if they come forward and want her.

“Time is of the essence,” Hatfield said.

Attorneys for the clinic and McNichol said Tuesday they are not stalling but wrestling how to comply with requested genetic testing without violating patient confidentiality.

The judge Schreiber agreed with the couple’s attorneys that the clinic needs to move faster. She added that the case can move forward with patients being tested confidentially.

“I recognize it’s difficult when we are dealing with confidentiality issues,” Schreiber said. “But it is a great concern to the court that there is another potential child out there.”

She ordered weekly status hearings that attorneys for both sides must attend. She also ordered the clinic to provide certification that patients who used the clinic from March 2020 to April 2025 were contacted and provided with an option to sign a waiver of confidentiality “so they can seek testing” if they choose.

The clinic and McNichol’s attorney said the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, often called HIPAA, means health care providers are prohibited from disclosing information about a patient’s health, unless the patient agrees in writing. That would include identifying an individual who sought or received health care from that provider.

Genetic testing demanded by the Brevard couple could violate that privacy protection, they said.

And revealing any information on whether an individual was implanted with an embryo or even received assisted reproductive technology from a specific medical facility would as well, they said.

“One of the issues that we’re facing is patient confidentiality,” said Orlando attorney Francis Pierce, who represents McNichol. “These small patient populations increase the risks of identification.”

The Florida Constitution generally grants individuals a right of privacy and “to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person’s private life,” stated a motion filed last week by attorneys for the clinic and McNichol in response to the couple’s demands.

Attorney Robert Terenzio of Tampa, who represents IVF Life, added Tuesday that many individuals want to keep it secret tjeu they underwent in vitro fertilization.

“I know there is a big issue with time,” he said. “But the problem we have is the nature of infertility itself. While some people are very happy to talk about their infertility journey. Some people find it very problematic.”

But Schreiber said there was still a need to quickly get answers, while respecting patients’ confidentiality.

“I’m also not going to use it as a shield to prevent getting information that is desperately needed in this case,” she said.

_________