Biological parents of baby born after embryo mix-up have been identified

The biological parents of a baby at the center of an embryo mix-up scandal have been identified.

Key Takeaways:

• Baby Shea was born via IVF in December; however, it was noticed that she was not of Caucasian descent like her birth parents, Tiffany Score and Steven Mills.

• Score and Mills filed a lawsuit against the Fertility Center of Orlando, and began the search for Shea's biological parents.

• Shea's biological parents have been identified, but it is unclear who will receive custody of the baby girl.

• Shea's case is not an outlier. Countless children have been swapped before birth in IVF mixups around the world.

The Details:

Baby Shea was created via in vitro fertilization (IVF) and was born in December 2025 to Tiffany Score and Steven Mills. Shortly after, the couple learned that the baby girl was not biologically related to either of them. They filed a lawsuit against the Fertility Center of Orlando and began the search for Shea's biological parents.

Now, her parents have been located, though their identities will remain confidential.

Mystery baby's parents FOUND after horrifying Florida IVF mix-up

The couple's attorney, Mara Hatfield, told NBC News that DNA testing shows Shea is South Asian, and the fertility clinic narrowed her potential parents down to one South Asian couple from 16 potential parents whose egg retrieval and embryo transfer dates took place in the same time frame as Score's.

“This ends one chapter in our heartbreaking journey, but it raises new issues that will have to be resolved,” a statement from Score and Mills said. “Only one thing is as absolutely certain today as it was on the day our daughter was born — we will love and will be this child’s parents forever.”

What's Happening Now:

The Fertility Center of Orlando has announced its closure, and a different fertility clinic will be setting up shop in its location.

Score and Mills still do not know what happened to the embryos they created, including whether or not another couple mistakenly received them. It is unclear how the custody of Shea will be worked out.

The Context:

Though in this case, it is clear that biological parentage matters, there is another side to IVF that involves creating children via egg and sperm donation with the intention of permanently separating children from their biological parents.

The hypocrisy is blinding.

In those cases, the message is that biological connection to one's parents or child doesn't matter. What this proves is that, when it comes to creating children, biology only matters when the adults want it to.

The fertility industry, including IVF and surrogacy, is an industry created to serve the desires of adults, regardless of the emotional and physical toll it takes on children.

The Bottom Line:

Stories like this are becoming more common, even among IVF-created individuals who are now adults and learned of the mix-up through at-home DNA testing kits. When these discoveries are made, a search for the biological family takes place, just as in Shea's case.

IVF treats children like commodities, and baby Shea is just one of countless children, known and unknown, who have been accidentally "swapped" before birth.