The biological parents of the child in the IVF-embryo mix were ‘heartbroken’ and would have preferred to preserve the child’s genes.
The parents of a baby girl born to another couple after an IVF mix-up in Florida are “heartbroken” and would like to fight for custody, according to their lawyer.
“They’re devastated by what happened, and they understand that the couple is suffering,” Rob Marcereau, an attorney for the parents of six-month-old Shea, told NBC News.
“They had to make the unfortunate decision not to fight for retention,” Marcereau said.
Tiffany Score and Steven Mills vowed to be “forever” parents of their baby girl after reaching a “mutually designed adoption agreement” with Shea’s biological parents last week.
Score and Mills sued the Fertility Center of Orlando and its chief endocrinologist, Dr. Milton McNichol, in January for allegedly implanting an inappropriate embryo in April 2025.
The couple, both white, discovered the embryo fusion after Score gave birth to “non-Caucasian” Shea on Dec. 11, 2025.
Shea was later confirmed by DNA testing to be 100% South Asian.
His biological parents would have preferred to keep the baby as their own, but they knew “it would be an incredibly uphill legal battle,” Marcereau continued.
The couple, however, did not feel that a custody battle would be beneficial to Shea.
The decision to grant custody to Score and Mills was reached in several meetings, where the couple shared “a lot of tears and hugs,” Marcereau said.
Shea’s biological parents also intend to sue the clinic and doctors for forcing them to make this “painful” decision, the attorney added.
Score and Mills’ attorney, Jack Scarola, said his clients are “committed” to respecting the privacy of Shea’s parents’ genetic makeup, who have so far kept their information from the public.
“They have begun and intend to continue to strengthen a relationship of friendship and trust” with another couple, Scarola said.
Score and Mills also told the judge that they had chosen a new medical facility to handle any future IVF, and that their embryos were transferred there, according to court documents filed in Orange County court last Friday.
That embryo will be tested for paternity, and they will “determine the next steps,” the document said.
The Fertility Clinic of Orlando previously said that after “careful consideration,” it will close on May 20.
Marcereau did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
