Posted on 03/21/2007 8:32:11 PM PDT by Calpernia
A couple who sued a fertility clinic after the wife gave birth to a daughter whose skin they thought was too dark for her to be their child may proceed with their lawsuit, a judge has ruled.
Thomas and Nancy Andrews, of Commack, N.Y., sued New York Medical Services for Reproductive Medicine, accusing the Manhattan clinic of medical malpractice and other offenses. They said the Park Avenue clinic botched the insemination of Nancy Andrews' eggs.
The Andrewses' court papers say that on the advice of Dr. Martin Keltz, the couple agreed to in vitro fertilization of the eggs with Thomas Andrews' sperm so they could have a child who was biologically their own. However, their court papers say, the clinic was negligent and used another man's sperm.
Three DNA tests - a home kit and two professional laboratory tests - confirmed that Thomas Andrews was not the baby's father, state Supreme Court Justice Sheila Abdus-Salaam quoted the couple as saying.
The judge said the Andrews' complain that they have been forced to raise a child who is "not even the same race, nationality, color ... as they are.''
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, came to light Wednesday after the judge issued a decision that allows the Andrewses to proceed with parts of the suit while dismissing other parts.
The judge quoted the couple as saying that after their daughter, Jessica, was born Oct. 19, 2004, they knew something was wrong because of her physical appearance. The baby's skin was darker than either parent's, the judge wrote.
The mother was born in the Dominican Republic "and has a complexion, skin coloration and facial characteristics typical of that region'' while the father is Caucasian, the judge quoted the Andrewses' papers.
Nancy Andrews asked Keltz about this "abnormality,'' the judge said, and the physician told her the condition was normal, that the in vitro fertilization was done properly and that the child would "get lighter over time.''
The Andrewses say that "while we love Baby Jessica as our own, we are reminded of this terrible mistake each and every time we look at her; it is simply impossible to ignore,'' the judge's decision says.
"We are conscious of and distressed by this mistake each and every time we appear in public,'' the judge quoted the Andrewses' affidavit as saying.
The judge, in her ruling made public Wednesday, dismissed the lawsuit against Keltz, who had advised the procedure and had performed the embryo implantation.
She allowed the case to proceed against Dr. Reginald Puckett as owner of the clinic but threw out the case against him as an individual. Puckett has already been found liable for the alleged blunder.
In trying to have the lawsuit against Puckett personally and as clinic owner dismissed, his lawyer, Martin B. Adams, told the court that Puckett "did not examine, communicate with, care for or treat plaintiffs.''
The judge found Carlo Acosta, the non-physician embryologist who processed the egg and sperm for creation of an embryo, liable for the alleged blunder. She said his response to the Andrewses' claims "could not be weaker - it is nonexistent.''
The Andrewses' lawyer, Howard J. Stern, did not return a telephone call for comment Thursday.
I agree. It would probably be a blessing to the child if they gave her up for adoption to a couple who really wanted her.
susie
I think they child is going to be embarassed to be with such 'parents' in public, too.
They can do DNA testing for the rest of this child's life. They won't suddenly turn around and bond with her no matter what the results are.
Well if these selfish racists don't want her, Mr. Fairview and I will give her a happy home, where she can be thoroughly loved for her own sweet self.
My parents became sick of looking at me all of the time. They told me to go to my room, I'm sick of look at you.
It happens all of the time.
Some severely misplaced priorities with the 'parents.'
They couldn't have bonded with the language they used. No one that loves their baby can speak that way about them.
I am sick reading it.
'Them' should have been 'her'.
So she says....
Well, it worked for Michael Jackson.
Sick.
OMG! If you are right, that would be scapgoating her own child!
"forced to raise a child"
This is disturbing, you're right. Poor kid!
Gee whiz..
In the olden days God never would have screwed up like this....
Egotists.
em>"...The Andrewses' lawyer, Howard J. Stern"</EM> If it were lawyer, Howard K. Stern, he'd fess up!
Calling Brangelina...calling Brangelina
Give it up for adoption.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.