'Unwitting surrogate' sues IVF clinic after embryo transfer mix-up

A woman in the USA is suing her fertility clinic after discovering the wrong embryo had been transferred to her during fertility treatment.

Krystena Murray, from Georgia, underwent IVF treatment at Coastal Fertility Specialists clinic in 2023 using donor sperm. The child born was black, and did not appear to be genetically related to Murray or her sperm donor, who were both described as fair-skinned Caucasians. Murray confirmed through an at-home DNA test that the child was not genetically related to her, and informed the clinic.

'I'm emotionally broken,' Murray said in a statement, the Independent reported. 'Nothing can express the shock and violation upon learning that your doctor put a stranger's embryo into your body.'

Coastal Fertility Specialists confirmed that the wrong embryo was transferred during Murray's treatment. The clinic identified the child's biological parents and informed them of the incident. The biological parents then filed a custody lawsuit.

Murray voluntarily gave up custody of the child, then five months old, in 2024 after being advised that she was unlikely to win a legal battle for custody. Murray's lawsuit said the clinic's 'extreme and outrageous' mistake 'turned [her] into an unwitting surrogate, against her will, for another couple'.

The lawsuit names Coastal Fertility Specialists and the clinic's embryology laboratory director, Dr Jeffrey Gray, as defendants. The complaint alleges that the defendants' negligence caused Murray to suffer 'severe emotional distress'. Murray is seeking monetary damages.

The clinic issued an apology, stating that the error was an isolated incident in its 15-year history. They said in a statement that they 'deeply regret the distress caused by an unprecedented error that resulted in an embryo transfer mix-up', NBC News reported.

'This was an isolated event with no further patients affected. The same day this error was discovered we immediately conducted an in-depth review and put additional safeguards in place to further protect patients and to ensure that such an incident does not happen again,' the clinic said in a statement to CBS News.

The clinic confirmed that all of Murray's embryos are accounted for and are available to her if she wishes to use them. She has begun seeking treatment with a different clinic to continue her journey to have a child.

Murray has chosen to leave the decision of future contact with the child to the biological parents.

---

The past, present and future of surrogacy law will be discussed at the free-to-attend online event 40 Years of the Surrogacy Arrangements Act: What Next for Surrogacy?, taking place on Wednesday 16 July 2025.

Find out more and register here.