A Florida couple who discovered after birth that their child was not biologically related to them will retain permanent custody of the baby after reaching an agreement with the child’s biological parents.
Steven Mills and Tiffany Score learned about the alleged embryo mix-up after their daughter, Shea, was born in December 2025. According to court filings and local reporting, the couple had used the Fertility Center of Orlando to conceive through in-vitro fertilization. After the birth, the couple reportedly noticed that Shea appeared to be of a different race, prompting genetic testing.
The test results confirmed that Shea was not genetically related to either Mills or Score. The discovery led the couple to file a lawsuit against the fertility clinic, alleging that the clinic had transferred the wrong embryo.
The custody issue has now been resolved. Mills and Score reached an agreement with Shea’s biological parents, identified anonymously in court filings as Patient 004. The details of that agreement will remain private, according to the filing, but the outcome allows Mills and Score to remain Shea’s permanent legal parents.
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The case has drawn attention because it raises difficult questions about fertility treatment, parental rights, medical accountability and the emotional bonds formed after a child is born. In their complaint, Mills and Score said they had developed an intense emotional bond with Shea and wanted to continue raising her. At the same time, they acknowledged that the child had a connection to her genetic parents that had to be handled legally and ethically.
The couple also asked the court to require the clinic to identify Shea’s biological parents and to conduct genetic testing involving other children born through the clinic’s services. They argued that if Shea had not appeared racially different from them, the mistake might have gone undiscovered for years.
The lawsuit also raised concerns about the couple’s own embryos. Mills and Score reportedly had three embryos stored at the clinic. One resulted in a miscarriage, another was moved to a different facility, and the third remains unaccounted for, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
The Fertility Center of Orlando later closed its operations in May, according to a statement on its website. The clinic has also reportedly faced unrelated legal claims involving medical malpractice and negligence in another case connected to a surrogate pregnancy.
Cases involving embryo mix-ups are rare, but when they happen, they can create unusually complex legal and emotional disputes. IVF patients trust clinics to handle embryos with extreme care because even one labeling, transfer or storage error can affect multiple families and raise questions that courts are not always clearly prepared to answer.
The Florida case also highlights the importance of transparency in fertility medicine. Patients often depend on clinics for recordkeeping, embryo tracking and chain-of-custody procedures. When something goes wrong, families may struggle to get clear answers about what happened and whether other embryos or patients were affected.
For Mills and Score, the custody agreement appears to provide certainty about their role as Shea’s parents. But the broader lawsuit may continue as they seek answers about how the alleged mistake occurred and what happened to their remaining embryo.
In a previous statement reported by the Orlando Sentinel, the couple said questions about their own embryos remained unanswered. But they said one thing was certain from the day their daughter was born: they would love and parent the child forever.
Why It Matters
The case matters because it shows how one alleged fertility clinic error can affect multiple families, not only medically but emotionally and legally. IVF treatment depends on trust, precise records and careful handling of embryos.
It also raises broader questions about how fertility clinics are regulated and what safeguards exist to prevent embryo mix-ups, protect patient information and resolve parental rights when mistakes occur.
What Comes Next
The custody agreement resolves one major issue by allowing Mills and Score to retain permanent custody of Shea. However, the lawsuit against the fertility clinic may continue as the couple seeks answers about the alleged error and the status of their own embryos.
The case could also add pressure for tighter oversight of fertility clinics, including stronger embryo-tracking procedures and clearer rules for what happens when a mix-up is discovered.
A social media post shared a CBS News segment about the Florida couple who will retain custody after an alleged embryo mix-up at a fertility clinic.
A couple who welcomed a child genetically unrelated to them following an alleged embryo mix-up at a Florida fertility clinic, will raise the child as their own after reaching an agreement with the child’s biological parents, the couple says. pic.twitter.com/YQQNRteISr
— ABC News (@ABC) June 16, 2026
