Custody agreement reached for Florida baby at center of IVF mix-up, court documents say

ClickOrlando ^ | June 15, 2026 | Erika Briguglio

[nickcarraway]

Lawsuit accuses fertility clinic of embryo mix-up

A Central Florida couple suing a fertility clinic over an embryo mix-up has reached a custody agreement with their baby girl’s biological parents, according to court documents.

Steven Mills and Tiffany Score gave birth to the girl in December, after receiving IVF treatment through Fertility Center of Orlando, only to discover the child was not biologically related to them. Genetic testing later confirmed the mix-up.

The couple filed a lawsuit against the Longwood-based clinic earlier this year. The lawsuit demands emergency relief for the following:

Inform Patients: Compelling the clinic to disclose what happened to other relevant patients to determine whether the baby girl in this case is actually their child (and determine whether another patient received the Does’ embryo)

Genetic Testing: Requiring the clinic to pay for genetic testing for all relevant patients and their children over the past five years while the clinic had custody of the Does’ embryos

Parental Discrepancy: Requiring the clinic to disclose any discrepancy in the parentage of the children of all patients whose birth resulted from embryo implantation through the clinic over the past five years

In April, the attorney representing Mills and Score confirmed to News 6 that the biological parents of the baby have been identified.

According to the paperwork, under the agreement, Mills and Score will have permanent legal custody of their daughter. Other details will remain private.

Mills and Score have found another facility for future fertility treatment as well as the storage of their embryos. Court records stated their new provider contacted the Fertility Center of Orlando to arrange transport and received their embryo. That embryo will be genetically tested before the couple determines the next steps.

“Depending on those tests, and because of some discrepancies in the prior records that we have, we would not be comfortable closing out this action. We may need some assistance from the court in getting the embryo history of the retrieval group moving forward,” said attorneys for the couple during a hearing Monday afternoon.

According to the court filing, the plaintiffs have received information that “has revealed laboratory-clinic errors” that would give Mills and Score grounds to sue Fertility Center of Orlando for compensation, and they may not have to meet the special legal requirements that usually apply to medical malpractice cases.

The filing stated the plaintiffs are still investigating how extensive these mistakes were and whether other people or organizations may also be responsible. They are trying to gather more information that “may assist in determining the fate of all embryos” and expect to ask the court for permission to update their lawsuit to include additional claims or defendants.

Fertility Center of Orlando is facing multiple lawsuits in the wake of this incident. The clinic has shut down its operations.

[ComputerGuy]

The clinic has shut down its operations.

And its funds have evaporated.

[CatOwner]

It sounds like the mother wants to keep the baby. I get that. She gave birth. I am not sure how I would feel if I were the father expecting to be biologically related to the baby.

[jagusafr]

Or, I dunno - maybe let God decide when and whether you should be parents?

[b4me]

and what if genetically testing their other embryo and choosing to have it carried to term results in that child not being up to par in their eyes? more law suits?

They should have accepted God’s will, whether childless or however long it may have taken for God to naturally give them a child.

IVF etc are just more ways to mess up a child’s mind, and sometimes life, before it even really starts.

[mairdie]

It’s confusing because they seem to care if someone else was impregnated with their embryo but they want to keep the child they bore and raised. Both positions understandable but seemingly contradictory.

I’m glad they identified the actual bio parents because the child can choose to get genealogical information on them for both historical and health purposes.

I’ve heard IVF is physically hard to go through. Impressed with the courage of women who feel such a need to try. And then to have the clinic mess it up... Really tough.