Tiffany Score and Steven Mills gave birth to a baby girl in December after undergoing IVF treatments at the Fertility Clinic of Orlando. Genetic testing after birth confirmed that the couple are not the biological parents of the child, whom they named Shea. According to their attorney, the IVF lab in Orlando allegedly made a mistake during embryo implantation, transferring an embryo not from the couple's gametes.
The couple sued the clinic and fertility doctor Milton McNichol for negligence in January. The lawsuit requested that the clinic help unite Shea with her genetic parents and account for the couple's missing embryos. According to the couple's attorney, genetic testing results delivered on Tuesday identified another couple, referred to as Patient 004, as Shea's biological parents. The couple issued a statement through their attorney confirming the genetic parents have been identified. They are respecting the privacy of Shea's genetic parents, who have not been named publicly.
Several families believe they may be related to Shea.
Score and Mills initially said they felt a moral obligation to find Shea's genetic parents, but now want to keep raising her as their own. In a statement, they said: "The results of testing delivered to us yesterday confirm that our baby's genetic parents have been identified. This ends one chapter in our heartbreaking journey, but it raises new issues that will have to be resolved. In addition, questions about the disposition of our own embryos are still unanswered and are even more unlikely to ever be answered. Only one thing is as absolutely certain today as it was on the day our daughter was born, we will love and will be this child's parents forever." They previously stated they hope to continue raising Shea with confidence she won't be taken away. Score posted on Facebook expressing gratitude and joy for their baby, saying she is theirs in every way that matters.
It is unclear if the couple will get to keep custody of Shea. The couple is seeking answers about their own embryos, whether they still exist or if they may have biological children elsewhere. The couple was told one embryo was preserved, but it has not been located.
Several other cases may be affected by similar errors at the same lab, with about a dozen people impacted by embryo mix-ups. According to Marie France, the couple's attorney described that several families believe they may be related to Shea. According to the attorney, DNA tests have been launched on people who received embryo implantations in 2025 at the lab to identify Shea's biological parents.