California couple sue over 'living hell' IVF mix-up

Complete stranger gives birth to their baby girl

LOS ANGELES: A California couple have filed a lawsuit over what has been described as one of the worst IVF mix-ups that led to another woman giving birth to their baby boy.

Anni and Ashot Manukyan, of the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale, said their embryos as well as those of two other couples were mishandled by CHA Fertility Center.

As a result, they said a complete stranger in New York gave birth to their child in March after two embryos - theirs and one belonging to another unidentified couple - were mistakenly implanted into the woman's uterus.

The New York woman, who is of Korean-American descent, was expecting to give birth to twin girls but wound up with two boys - the first indication that something was amiss.

The Manukyans told reporters on Wednesday that they were unaware they had a son until the clinic contacted them to obtain their DNA so that it could determine whether the child born to the New York couple was theirs.

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Adding insult to injury, Anni learned at that time that she had been inseminated with an embryo - which failed to result in a pregnancy - belonging to another couple who were also clients of the fertility clinic.

The Manukyans said that following a protracted legal battle they finally gained custody of their son in May, when he was six weeks old.

"CHA put three families through a living hell, and our lives will never be the same," Ashot Manukyan told reporters. "We fought to get our boy back, and now we will fight to make sure this never happens again."

The identity of the third couple has not been revealed.

Adam Wolf, an attorney representing the Manukyans, told AFP that the mix-up was "one of the worst fertility center tragedies I have ever seen."

"Anni and Ashot have been devastated that they didn't get to bring their child into the world, hold their son in the first moments of his life," he said.

"Child fertility put Anni and Ashot in the worst position imaginable," he added. "Their embryos were transferred to some stranger and then embryos of an unknown couple were transferred to Anni."

A woman who answered the phone at the fertility clinic on Wednesday afternoon said the facility had shut down early for the day and no representatives were available for comment.

The New York couple involved in the mix-up have also filed suit.