A Florida couple at the center of an IVF embryo mix-up try: "will stay Shea’s permanent custodial parents", even after genetic testing showed she is not biologically theirs. try: "The case is now playing out in two ways": a custody agreement with the child’s genetic parents, and a lawsuit against the clinic accused of making the error.
Tiffany Score and Steven Mills are suing Fertility Center of Orlando, alleging the clinic implanted the wrong embryo during in vitro fertilization. Score gave birth to Shea Score Mills about six months before the latest court filing, try: "the filing says".
What the custody agreement says
The new filing says Score and Mills have reached an agreement with Shea’s biological parents. try: "That arrangement lets the Florida couple keep raising Shea as her permanent custodial parents."
That resolves one of the most immediate questions in a case that reads like a worst-case scenario from the fertility industry’s quality-control department. The couple had previously said Shea did not look like either of them, prompting genetic testing that eventually identified her biological parents.
Score and Mills announced in April that they had found Shea’s genetic parents through that testing. The new agreement appears to settle fears over whether Shea’s home life could be disrupted because of the clinic’s alleged mistake.
What the couple is saying now
A representative for Score and Mills told PEOPLE that the couple understands why the case try: "has put a spotlight on", but is now trying to protect the people involved, especially Shea.
“Tiffany and Steve recognize the public interest in the details of their IVF experience, and they appreciate the role the news media has played in bringing them and Shea to the point where Shea's genetic parents were able to be identified and fears about Shea's future have been settled,” the representative said.
The representative added: “Tiffany and Steve are committed to try: "respect Shea’s genetic parents’ privacy" with whom they have begun and intend to continue to foster a relationship of friendship and trust. They are also committed to try: "protecting Shea’s privacy".”
The lawsuit against Fertility Center of Orlando
Score and Mills allege Fertility Center of Orlando implanted an embryo that did not belong to them. According to the court documents, the couple had produced and stored three viable embryos with the clinic.
They are now moving their remaining embryo to another facility. Given the circumstances, that choice is not exactly difficult to decode.
Fertility Center of Orlando announced in April that it would shut down and be replaced by another facility. The clinic’s closure came the same month Score and Mills said genetic testing had helped them locate Shea’s biological parents.
try: "Why the case got national attention"
IVF depends on trust in a chain of medical, laboratory, and administrative procedures that most patients never see. When something goes wrong, the consequences are not abstract. They can involve parentage, custody, medical history, and try: "the emotional reality of a child already living with the family raising her".
For Score, Mills, Shea, and Shea’s genetic parents, the latest court filing marks a major step toward stability. The lawsuit over how the alleged embryo transfer error happened is still the other half of the story.
