The Fertility Center of Orlando and their lead reproductive endocrinologist are being sued as of January by couple Tiffany Score and Steven Mills. Score had given birth to her daughter a month earlier, and had undergone in vitro fertilization at the clinic. The couple quickly pursued genetic testing after delivery because their baby “displayed the physical appearance of a racially non-Caucasian child,” according to their lawsuit. Mills and Score, both white, got the confirmation that the baby (Shea) is 100% South Asian, and thus, not related to them.
The lawsuit sparked a search for the couple whose embryo had been mistakenly implanted into Score, and in April, Shea’s biological parents were found. Their names have been kept confidential so far.
Mara Hatfield, the attorney for Score and Mills, wrote on Friday (06/12/2026) in a court filing that her clients and the biological parents have come to a custody agreement – Score and Mills have been officially recognized as the “permanent custodial parents of their daughter”. This, to one Circuit Court Judge and to Score and Mills, is a positive development for a number of reasons, not limited to the fact that the couple formed a “strong emotional bond” with Shea beginning in the pregnancy. Score and Mills stated Monday that they have begun a relationship of friendship and trust with Shea’s biological parents.
In court proceedings, the defendants have not disagreed with the fact that Shea “should be, but is not, the genetic child” of the plaintiffs. No comments have been made by Shea’s biological parents’ attorney, the clinic, or the reproductive endocrinologist being sued. The Fertility Clinic of Orlando has announced they will be closing, and a different IVF network has opened in the same location.
One embryo remains in the pending case, which the original clinic claims belongs to Score and Mills. Genetic testing is being performed, and the embryo has been moved to an alternate facility.