The couple sued the clinic for the mishap. Photo / Getty Images
The couple sued the clinic for the mishap. Photo / Getty Images
A mother who gave birth to two babies from different mothers and then had to give them up has won a payout from the clinic in California that mixed up the embryos.
The Asian-American couple who were identified by only their initials have settled for an undisclosed sum with theCha Fertility Clinic in Southern California, according to reports.
In 2018, the couple, identified as YZ and AP, of Flushing, New York, travelled to California and paid US$100,000 for fertility treatment. It resulted in eight embryos and a pregnancy for AP, who was told she was having twin girls.
When she gave birth, she did so to two Caucasian boys rather than two girls with Asian features. Subsequent investigations revealed that in an “unimaginable mishap”, the clinic had implanted two male embryos from two different families into AP, according to a lawsuit they filed.
A few weeks later, the couple were forced to give up the baby boys. Their lawsuit said they had suffered “permanent emotional injuries from which they will not recover”.
The couple have now reportedly settled their case with the clinic, which has since been taken over by the Tree of Life Fertility Clinic.
“It’s been a long road for them,” said the couple’s lawyer, Dae Lee. “It’s still a very touchy subject for them.”
The New York couple were obliged to give up the two boys to their genetic parents. One of the couples, Anni Manukyan and her husband Ashot, also sued the clinic over the mishap.
YZ and AP were forced to give up their newborns. Anni (pictured) and Ashot Manukyan were given one of the children.
Anni Manukyan and the other boy’s genetic mother had all been at the clinic on the same day in August 2018 when AP was implanted with their embryos.
In a further twist, Manukyan was mistakenly implanted with the embryo of a fourth couple that resulted in a pregnancy that failed.
The Manukyans learned they had become parents only when they received a call from the clinic asking them to come in and take a DNA test in March 2019.
Anni Manukyan would later describe the flood of emotions when she and her husband collected her little boy from YZ and AP.
“We were hysterically crying, all four of us,” she later told the media. “They were saying, “We’re sorry, we’re so sorry’.”
The couple presented a series of gifts for the Manukyans, including gold bracelets, one that celebrated the Year of the Pig and another with a crown and a ring emblazoned with tiny baby shoes. Neither Lee nor lawyers for the fertility clinic responded to inquiries on Monday from the Telegraph.
The Manukyans sought damages to cover their emotional loss and the $100,000 they spent on their care and travel. They settled for an undisclosed amount in December 2019.
Anni Manukyan said she prayed every day for the woman who gave birth to her son.
“She carried my child for nine months, she fed him, she took care of him, she changed his diapers. It could have ended up differently,” she said.
“I pray for her every day, she was a victim of this as much as I am. She’s a lovely lady. She raised my baby inside of her and after he was born.”
