Couple Discovers Baby Isn’t Biologically Theirs in IVF Nightmare

What should have been a fairytale ending has turned into a real-life legal and emotional thriller.

A Florida couple says their dream of becoming parents through IVF took a shocking turn after they welcomed a baby girl—only to later learn she is not genetically related to either of them. Now, they’re suing the fertility clinic they trusted, desperate for answers and terrified of what could come next.

Tiffany Score and her husband, Steven Mills, say they love their daughter, Shea, “more than words can express.” But behind the joy of new parenthood is a devastating truth: an alleged embryo mix-up that has left them heartbroken, confused, and living in constant fear that their baby could one day be taken from them.

Last year, Score and Mills turned to the Fertility Center of Orlando, where they successfully created and froze three viable embryos. In April, one of those embryos was implanted—or so they were told.

They did what millions of excited first-time parents do: bought diapers, prepared a nursery, and counted down the days.

On December 11, they welcomed their daughter, Shea.

Almost immediately, something felt off.

Both parents are White, and Shea didn’t resemble either of them. Genetic testing later confirmed their worst nightmare: Shea is not biologically related to Tiffany or Steven at all.

“It was obvious,” their attorney said bluntly.

Despite the shock, the couple says their bond with Shea is unbreakable.

“She is a beautiful, healthy baby girl whom we love more than words can express,” they said in a statement.

But the situation comes with an unbearable moral and emotional weight. Somewhere out there, they believe, are Shea’s biological parents—possibly grieving the loss of a child they don’t even know was born.

Even more devastating? The possibility that another family may have received the embryo Tiffany and Steven created.

“Our joy over her birth is complicated by the reality that another family may be missing their child—or raising the child we conceived,” they said. “We are heartbroken, devastated, and confused.”

At just seven weeks old, Shea is at the center of a legal and ethical storm. Her parents say they live in constant fear that one day, someone could knock on their door and claim her.

“That fear,” they say, “is almost unbearable.”

The lawsuit isn’t about money. According to their lawyer, the couple is simply demanding answers:
Who are Shea’s biological parents?
What happened to their embryos?
And how could this happen at all?

The Fertility Center of Orlando previously acknowledged it was “actively cooperating with an investigation” into an error that led to the birth of a child not genetically related to the patient—but that statement has since been removed from its website.

Attorneys for the clinic argue privacy laws limit what they can disclose. The court has now stepped in as an intermediary, with a judge expected to decide what information can be shared and when.

An investigation could take four to six weeks—but for Tiffany and Steven, every day feels urgent.

IVF mix-ups have increasingly made headlines, but for this family, it’s not a cautionary tale—it’s their life.

All they want, they say, is the truth, the chance to protect their daughter, and the ability to finally celebrate her without fear.

“Shea is completely innocent,” they said. “And she deserves better than this.”

For now, the couple waits—caught between overwhelming love and unimaginable uncertainty—as the case unfolds and the world watches one of the most chilling fertility clinic stories yet.