Surprise! Your IVF baby is not even related to you: Lawsuits highlight often ‘unreported’ fertility errors

After five months of caring for her new baby, Krystena Murray was forced to give him up to his biological parents.

Murray, who worked with a fertility clinic to have a biological child using her eggs and a sperm donor, knew something had gone wrong when she gave birth: though she is white, the baby was black. It was quickly obvious the wrong embryo had been transferred to her womb, according to her February lawsuit against the clinic.

“Nothing can express the shock and violation upon learning that your doctor put a stranger’s embryo into your body,” Murray said in a statement.

In vitro fertilization (IVF)-related lawsuits like Murray’s over industry practices and errors are stacking up, even as the Trump administration’s policy on the issue remains unsettled.

An Alabama Supreme Court ruling in 2024 that found frozen embryos are children sparked conflicting reactions from Republicans: Many, including President Donald Trump, signaled support for IVF, while pro-life groups voiced opposition.

Yet the underlying Alabama case, which stemmed from a lawsuit filed by three couples whose embryos were accidentally dropped and destroyed, is one of many examples of lawsuits against providers. An NBC News review in March found over 300 lawsuits from 2019 to 2024 alleging loss, destruction or mix-ups involving IVF.

There were 133 cases involving lost, damaged or destroyed frozen embryos between January 1, 2009 and April 22, 2019, including 87 related to freezer tank failures in Ohio and California, according to a 2020 study.

“Errors in IVF are more common than we think,” Center for Bioethics & Culture Network (CBC) Executive Director Kallie Fell told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “They’re often not reported.”

A New York couple sued in December 2024 over a mix-up that led a clinic to destroy their frozen embryos and fail to notify them until five years later.

A father and his 18-year-old daughter sued an IVF doctor in October 2024 after a DNA test revealed they are not biologically related.

In September 2024, a Washington couple sued Pacific Northwest Fertility for allegedly destroying seven of their embryos. The clinic’s insurance company sued Aug. 7 to clarify allegations of destruction are not covered under the clinic’s policy.

All three couples whose cases were behind the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling dropped their legal challenges last year, the first two in August and the third in December. The initial ruling prompted state legislators to pass a bill protecting IVF by offering immunity to healthcare providers who provide services.

“When nobody is providing oversight or supervision, all sorts of mistakes and accidents happen,” Adam Wolf, whose bio states he has represented “more than 1000 people” in cases against fertility centers, told NBC News in response to the Alabama law. “And so the answer to that should never be, ‘Well, let’s just immunize fertility clinics and contribute to the Wild West of the fertility industry.’”

‘Life-Altering Choices’

Some litigation has been focused on companies producing reproductive technologies.

In June, three plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit challenging a genetic test, PGT-A, advertised for use during IVF treatment to ensure a successful, healthy pregnancy. Plaintiffs say the results are unreliable, alleging the accuracy rate isnot 98% as claimed and that the test caused them to unnecessarily discard embryos.

Meanwhile, the PGT-A testing industry generates $300 million to $400 million dollars annually, according to the lawsuit.

“Studies show that when looking at clinic pregnancy, miscarriage, or live-birth rates, there is no difference between cycles utilizing PGT-A and cycles not utilizing PGT-A,” the lawsuit states.

At least four other lawsuits have been filed against companies for allegedly misleading consumers about the test. One was dismissed in August with leave to file an amended complaint.

“IVF patients deserve to know what this test can and cannot do before they spend thousands of dollars and make life-altering choices based on its results,” Constable Law managing partner Allison Freeman, who is leading several of the lawsuits, told the DCNF.

“IVF patients are among the most vulnerable consumers in medicine,” she said. “We hope these lawsuits send a clear message to the fertility industry: we are watching, and we will hold bad actors accountable.”

CooperSurgical, one company facing a lawsuit over the PGT-A test, also faces ongoing lawsuits over a recalled liquid used to develop embryos.

A judge let a class action lawsuit against the company by patients who allege their embryos were destroyed move forwardin December. CooperSurgical did not respond to a request for comment.

‘Expand IVF Access’

Trump issued an executive order in February pledging to make IVF “drastically more affordable.” Now, the Trump administration is backing away from an earlier idea to mandate IVF coverage in insurance, the Washington Post reportedAug 3.

The administration has not yet released policy recommendations for lowering the cost of IVF that Trump’s executive order called for within 90 days.

“President Trump pledged to expand IVF access for Americans looking to start families, and the Administration remains committed to delivering on that pledge and exploring all options that address the root causes of infertility,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told the DCNF in a statement.

During his 2024 campaign, Trump called himself the “father of IVF” and suggested he would mandate insurance companies pay for the treatment.

“We are going to be, under the Trump administration, we are going to be paying for that treatment,” Trump said in an August 2024 interview with NBC News. “We’re going to be mandating that the insurance company pay.”

Public support for IVF is strong, with 82% believing insurers should cover the procedure, according to an April poll by Americans for IVF. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg agreed Sunday on “Pod Save America” that Democrats should adopt the policy of ensuring insurance coverage for IVF.

Pro-life organizations remain concerned about Trump’s proposals.

“The use of these methods brings about many new human lives, yet the vast majority of those lives will be frozen or discarded,” the Catholic Medical Association said in a statement after Trump signed his February order. “If one correctly recognizes that life begins at conception, and that every human life deserves respect and the right to live, then interventions such as IVF are unacceptable.”

Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins wrote on X in February that “America’s IVF industry is completely unregulated, unlike the rest of [the] world.

“Now that President Trump says he wants to fund more of it, shouldn’t a logical step for the Trump Administration be to regulate it, at a minimum?” she wrote.

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