Lawsuit dismissed: Caucasian lesbian woman who received African-American sperm by mistake

Daily Herald ^ | 9/3/2015 | Justin Kmitch

[rochester]

An Ohio woman's lawsuit alleging a Downers Grove sperm bank error that led to the birth of her biracial daughter has been thrown out of court.

A DuPage County judge Thursday dismissed the lawsuit against Midwest Sperm Bank, saying the woman's wrongful birth claim and breach of warranty were not viable claims under state law. The suit, originally filed last November in Cook County, was refiled in DuPage County in March.

Judge Ronald Sutter then gave attorneys for Jennifer Cramblett of Uniontown, Ohio, 14 days to refile the lawsuit as a negligence claim.

Thomas Intili, a Dayton, Ohio attorney representing Cramblett said they agreed that a negligence claim was more appropriate and would move forward.

"The wrongful birth claim and the breach of warranty claim were determined to be not consistent with Illinois Law so we will submit our amended complaint, which we expect the court will then consider," Intili said outside of court Thursday. "We are considering additional claims as well."

According to the original 11-page filing, Cramblett was impregnated through artificial insemination in December 2011. It wasn't until Cramblett, who is white, was five months pregnant that she learned she was accidentally impregnated with the sperm of a black man.

Cramblett learned of the mix-up when she called to reserve additional vials from the same donor so her partner, Amanda Zinkon, 30, also could become pregnant.

The original lawsuit alleges that the mistake was a result of handwritten records, rather than electronic records that would have made the error easier to catch.

Cramblett and Zinkon selected donor No. 380 after reviewing the man's 23-page profile in August 2011, but were instead given sperm from donor No. 330, according to the lawsuit.

The mistake was discovered in April 2012 when Cramblett called the facility to order several more vials from donor No. 380 and was told she was impregnated by donor No. 330.

Cramblett received a letter from the clinic the following month apologizing for the mix-up and a check, reimbursing her for the additional incorrect vials she received in September 2011, according to the suit.

Attorney Robert Summers, who represented the sperm bank Thursday, was not immediately available to comment on the ruling.

The case is due back in court Dec. 17.

[BatGuano]

I love good limericks and yours is great!
Copied for future use, with your permission.

[shotgun]

She should have fired her attorney for not understanding the difference between a breach of contract and negligence. I sure the judge admonished the attorney in open court for wasting his time, at least that has been my experience dealing with lawyers and courts

[SunkenCiv]

It'll be all white baby.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Gotta agree with you, hoosierham. In marriage, you give the whole of your sexuality over to your spouse. It's really not ligitmate to take the real heart and soul of sexuality --- procreation --- and outsource it to somebody else. Because of the innately exclusive nature of marriage, it entails an implicit agreement to conceive/beget children only with your spouse.

The particular case shows how a baby, supposed to be the gift of love, turns into a commodity, begotten as part of a commercial transaction. The child is not valued for the child's own sake, but his/her worth is entirely subordinate to customer (adult) satisfaction.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I have even heard references to "Canada's African America minority."

And I've read about black African American University students born in the USA protesting against black African American students born in Africa, on the grounds that the latter are benefiting from diversity preferences but they're 'not really African Americans.'

Aaaargh....