A white woman who gave birth to a black baby through IVF and lost custody of the boy is now suing the fertility clinic she went through to have the procedure.
Krystena Murray, 38, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Coastal Fertility Specialists in Savannah, Georgia, a little over a year after she gave birth in December 2023.
Since she chose to have a white sperm donor, she was immediately caught off guard when her baby was dark-skinned.
After taking a DNA test and reaching out to the clinic, she learned that another couple’s embryo was mistakenly placed in her uterus, Business Insider reported.
That didn’t stop Murray, a single woman, from falling in love with and bonding with her newborn, even though he wasn’t genetically hers.
But just five months after giving birth, Murray lost custody of the child to his legal parents – the couple who had provided the embryo to the clinic.
‘I’ve never felt so violated,’ Murray said during a press conference with Peiffer Wolf, the personal injury firm representing her.
She added that she felt ‘emotionally and physically broken’ after having to relinquish her rights to a child who she fully thought was hers until he was born.
Krystena Murray, 38, is pictured with the baby she gave birth to in December 2023. She is white and the baby is black
Murray has now sued Coastal Fertility Specialists for their mix-up, which she caused her to lose custody of the baby she delivered to the genetic parents
Murray said she had wanted a child for a long time. She found a sperm donor who was a white man with blue eyes and dirty blonde hair, physical features she shares.
She said she felt conflicted the moment she delivered the baby boy, knowing he wasn’t hers but at the same time bonding with him.
‘The birth of my child was supposed to be the happiest moment of my life, and honestly it was,’ she told reporters on Tuesday. ‘It was also the scariest moment of my life.’
Murray said she didn’t post any photos of the baby on social media because of her unanswered questions about their racial difference. She didn’t even let her family meet the child because she knew they too would have questions she wouldn’t be able to explain.
A month after giving birth, she got the results of DNA test she had ordered, confirming she wasn’t related to the baby.
By March 2024, four months after Murray gave birth, Coastal Fertility Specialists realized there had been a mix-up.
The clinic then contacted the biological parents of Murray’s baby, who then sued her to get custody. Murray hired lawyers in multiple states to fight the lawsuit.
When another DNA test affirmed that Murray was not the mother, her legal team advised her to give up the child to the couple and drop the family-law case.
Murray took their advice and gave up the baby in May 2024. She hasn’t seen him since.
Murray is pictured during a Tuesday press conference with her lawyer Adam Wolf, who is a partner at the law firm Peiffer Wolf
Pictured: The fertility clinic operated by Coastal Fertility Specialists in Savannah, Georgia, that Murray went to get the botched IVF procedure
‘To carry a baby, fall in love with him, deliver him, and build the uniquely special bond between mother and baby, all to have him taken away,’ she said. ‘I’ll never fully recover from this.’
Despite being disillusioned with IVF, Murray said she is undergoing the procedure again, just at a different clinic.
‘I’m hoping to continue my journey to be a mom in the next year or two,’ she said.
Coastal Fertility Specialists apologized in an emailed statement to the Associated Press, calling what happened ‘an unprecedented error that resulted in an embryo transfer mix-up.’
‘This was an isolated event with no further patients affected,’ the statement said. ‘We are doing everything we can to make things right for those affected by this incident.’
In the press conference with Murray, Adam Wolf said he’s represented clients of Coastal Fertility Specialists whose embryos were dropped on the ground or had embryos mixed with the wrong sperm or eggs.
Wolf said Murray still doesn’t know what happened to her own embryos.
Wolf’s firm has represented more than 1,000 patients who have opted to sue fertility clinics for things like embryos being lost or damaged.
This is the first time Wolf’s firm is suing Coastal Fertility Specialists.
‘Fertility clinics engage in vitally important work,’ Wolf said, adding: ‘With that amazing work comes a real responsibility. And when fertility clinics make mistakes like this, the consequences are life-altering.’
Murray is asking for damages in excess of $75,000 for the mental anguish and emotional distress she said the clinic put her through.
