US3 min(s) read
Published 09:38 17 Jun 2026 GMT
A couple who welcomed a baby that is not genetically related to them in December last year have announced that they plan to keep their child.
Following a lawsuit they filed against the Fertility Center of Orlando over the alleged major mix-up with embryos, Tiffany Score and Steven Mills will maintain custody of their baby.
It was only once Score gave birth to their daughter that the couple, who are both white, sensed a mistake had been made during their in vitro fertilization treatment as their baby “displayed the physical appearance of a racially non-Caucasian child.”
While the couple has said they love their daughter "more than words can express," they believed “they had a moral obligation to find her genetic parents”.
In April, Score and Mills announced that they had found out who baby Shea’s biological parents are, but plan to keep their identities “confidential” as they “fully intend to cooperate in respecting their privacy.”
Just three months after the bombshell discovery, an attorney for Score and Mills announced that her clients and the biological parents had “come to a mutually devised custody agreement.”
The legal agreement recognizes Score and Mills as the “permanent custodial parents of their daughter”, allowing them to enjoy parenthood hopefully without further disruptions.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Judge Margaret Schreiber shared her support for the agreement in a court hearing by saying, “I’m glad the parties have reached an agreement while this child is relatively young.”
Since the couple filed the lawsuit in January, just weeks after the birth of their daughter, they fought to keep her, claiming that they had an “intensely strong emotional bond” that started in pregnancy.
In the aftermath of this unusual case, which made global headlines, the Fertility Center of Orlando announced that it will be closed. Also, Score and Mills’ case against the clinic is on hold while genetic testing is carried out on a frozen embryo, which reportedly belongs to the couple.
Despite the major moral agreement that had to be reached by both sets of parents, Score and Mills say that they are committed to respecting the privacy of Shea’s biological parents, “with whom they have begun and intend to continue to foster a relationship of friendship and trust.”
In a statement previously obtained by People Magazine, the couple said that by taking legal action, they hoped to "begin living more freely and to finally celebrate the one beautiful thing that has come from all of this: our daughter."
