Postpartum Shock: White Parents Expecting White Baby, But Baby Turns Out Black
In the United States, a white woman who became pregnant with an embryo from a sperm bank experienced shock after giving birth. Expecting a baby from a “white, fair-skinned, dirty blond, and blue-eyed male” donor, she discovered that the baby was actually black. After taking care of the baby for five months, the woman had to hand over custody of the baby to the biological parents once the truth came to light.
A 38-year-old woman in the United States filed a lawsuit against a fertility clinic following the transfer of the wrong embryo to her.
Upon the baby’s birth, a shocking truth was revealed. The woman, Krystena Murray, thought she had chosen a sperm donor who resembled herself. According to her preference, the donor was supposed to be white with dirty blond hair and blue eyes. An embryo was transferred to Murray in 2023, and when she gave birth in December 2023, she “realized something was very wrong” as the baby she delivered was “dark-skinned, African-American.”
Murray immediately filed a lawsuit against the fertility clinic over the incident. In the lawsuit filed in the Georgia state court on Tuesday, Krystena Murray claims that she “unknowingly and unintentionally carried a child who was not biologically related to her” during pregnancy. Murray only learned about this after giving birth. Subsequently, she had to give custody of the baby to the biological parents five months later.
In an interview with NBC News, Murray said, “I was hoping it was just a sperm mix-up, not an embryo mix-up.” However, DNA results confirmed that the baby was not biologically related to her.
The clinic later identified the biological parents of the baby who were not named in the lawsuit and contacted them. This family confirmed through a DNA test that the child belonged to them and then filed a custody suit to obtain the baby from Murray.
On a painful day in court, Murray voluntarily handed over her baby to the biological parents.
Murray stated in her interview with NBC News, “With a baby who has a family, who loves me, who has a connection to me, I went into the courtroom as a mother and I left the building, and they left with my son.”
