A California fertility clinic has settled a lawsuit brought by multiple couples after an embryo mix-up left several parents and children traumatized and heartbroken. The clinic implanted one woman with two embryos from two different couples and another woman received a fourth couple’s embryo.
An Asian-American couple, identified only as “YZ” and “AP,” traveled from New York to California for fertility treatment with Cha Fertility Clinic. They paid $100,000 and had eight embryos (actual, living human beings) created. Two were implanted, and AP was told she was expecting twin girls. Ultrasounds indicated that AP was carrying boys, but doctors assured her those ultrasounds were wrong. Yet she eventually gave birth to two Caucasian boys.
An investigation found that an “unimaginable mishap” had taken place, causing embryos from two different couples to be implanted instead of the embryos belonging to AP and YZ.
To add to the heartache, the couple had to give the babies to their biological parents. One couple, Ashot and Anni Manukyan, told the New York Post they found out about the snafu when they were called to come in for a cheek swab. A few days later, they found out what happened. “I was about to faint,” Anni said. She also learned she had been mistakenly implanted with a fourth couple’s baby, though she had a miscarriage.
Initially, the fertility clinic refused to give the couple any information about their son until they got a lawyer, spawning a court battle over who would be allowed to keep the infants. AP had been caring for the babies for weeks, and wrote a letter begging to be able to keep them.
“I kiss his little feet every day. I give him a bath. I breast fed him,” she wrote. “We’re their true parents and we’re the ones who want to be with him. We love them, they’re ours and they’re twins, they shouldn’t be separated. They snuggle with each other, they sleep with each other every night. How could you separate them?”
Attachment begins in the womb, and research shows that separating a baby from his mother can cause deep trauma for a child. According to one study published by Psychological Science, “[E]arly maternal separation can result in a series of traumatic emotional reactions during which the child engages in an anxious period of calling and active search behavior followed by a period of declining behavioral responsiveness.” Some research has also found that separating twins also causes trauma.
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In an emotional court hearing, a judge ruled that the babies had to be returned to their biological parents. “They came in and they were crying, and I saw them crying and I started bawling. My husband was trying to hold me,” Anni said. “Even the security guard was crying.”
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When it came time for the handoff, Anni made sure to meet AP. “I need[ed] to thank her personally, because she deserves that. 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. “We were hysterically crying, all four of us. They were saying, ‘We’re sorry, we’re so sorry. We should have let you guys come and take him before, it’s just that we love them. We wanted to take care of them as they were our own. We love them.’ There was no tension in the room whatsoever. It felt like we were friends. … It was just love, because we all have love of the same child.”
AP also presented Anni with gifts for the baby — “gold bracelets, one celebrating the Year of the Pig and another with a crown, a ring emblazoned with baby shoes, a pink pillow from AP’s mother, and the baby’s umbilical cord — saved in accordance with AP’s culture. “I think I’ll keep that pink pillow forever,” Anni said.
She said she prays for AP. “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,” said Anni.
The third couple, who was also reunited with their biological baby, did not want any media interviews.
In addition to a $200,000 settlement with physician Joshua Berger, a settlement was reached with YZ and AP. Manukyan had also previously sued and settled with the clinic. The lawyer for YZ and AP, Dae Lee, said the couple is still traumatized. “It’s been a long road for them,” Lee said. “It’s still a very touchy subject for them.”
