Florida couple Tiffany Score and Steven Mills will continue raising their daughter after an alleged IVF embryo mix-up led them to discover she was not genetically related to either parent. The couple reached a custody agreement with the child’s biological parents, allowing them to retain permanent custody of the girl, according to court documents and reports from The Guardian and the Orlando Sentinel.
IVF treatment and the discovery of the mix-up
Score and Mills used the Fertility Center of Orlando to conceive a child through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) after trying to start a family. After a healthy pregnancy, Score gave birth to their daughter, Shea, in December 2025.
However, the couple became concerned after noticing that their daughter did not appear to share their white ancestry. Genetic testing later confirmed that Shea was not biologically related to either Score or Mills, revealing that the embryo transferred during the IVF process was not theirs.
Lawsuit and legal action against the clinic
The discovery led the couple to file a lawsuit against the Florida clinic, seeking answers about what happened and asking for information about their embryos. According to court documents, the couple had three embryos stored at the clinic — one resulted in a miscarriage, another was moved to a different facility, while the status of the third remained unclear.
In a January letter to the Fertility Center of Orlando, the couple’s attorney, Jack Scarola, argued that the racial difference between the parents and the baby was what brought attention to the alleged mistake. Scarola wrote, according to court documents cited by The Guardian: “In the absence of the racial disparity that alerted [Mills and Score] to your inexcusable error, the fact and results of the error might be concealed for years or left undiscovered indefinitely.”
Custody agreement and emotional bond
The couple said that despite discovering Shea was not genetically theirs, they had already developed a strong emotional bond with her. In a statement obtained by the Orlando Sentinel, Mills and Score said: “Only one thing is as absolutely certain as it was on the day our daughter was born — we will love and be this child’s parents forever.”
The couple later reached a custody agreement with Shea’s biological parents, who were identified in court filings as Patient 004. The agreement allows Score and Mills to retain permanent custody of Shea, while details of the arrangement remain private.
Clinic shutdown and broader concerns
According to reports, the two families also agreed to build a relationship based on friendship and trust. The Fertility Center of Orlando later shut down operations on May 20, 2026, following the controversy. The clinic had also faced separate legal issues unrelated to the embryo mix-up.
The case has highlighted concerns around embryo identification procedures in fertility clinics and the complicated legal and emotional questions that can arise when biological parenthood differs from the family that carries and raises a child.
