Fort Worth fertility clinic used the wrong sperm in a couple’s IVF treatment, parents say
A Fort Worth fertility clinic twice used the wrong sperm to fertilize a North Texas woman’s eggs, and the woman’s children are not biologically related to their father, according to a lawsuit filed in Tarrant County District Court.
Camille and Derrick Bryan, who live in Wise County, twice turned to Fort Worth Fertility in the city’s medical district for in vitro fertilization, according to the suit, which was filed Feb. 8.
The couple first approached Fort Worth Fertility and Dr. Robert Kaufmann in 2015. Camille had her eggs harvested at the clinic, and Derrick had sperm collected, according to the lawsuit.
In March 2016, Camille had a successful embryo placement, and nine months later she gave birth to a baby. In 2018, Camille had a second embryo transfer, and later gave birth to a second child.
In August 2022, the couple received DNA results indicating that Bryan was not the biological father of either child, the suit says. The couple decided to get their DNA tested after their son was examined by his pediatrician, said Tommy Hastings, the Bryans’ attorney. The pediatrician noticed a type of birth mark on the boy that is most common in children of Asian descent, Hastings said. Because neither of the Bryans have any Asian heritage, they decided to test their son’s DNA, and found that it didn’t correspond with Derrick’s, said Hastings, of the Hastings Law Firm.
The couple are seeking an unspecified amount of monetary damages.
Neither Kaufmann nor Fort Worth Fertility immediately responded to an email asking for their comment on the case. It was not immediately clear if Kaufmann or the clinic had hired attorneys.
The couple are accusing Kaufmann, Fort Worth Fertility, and the fertility labs the clinic works with of negligence. In all, the Bryans are suing six defendants, accusing them of “recklessly, negligently, or intentionally mishandled the sperm and allowed an unknown donor to be used to fertilize Camille’s eggs.”
A different patient of Kaufmann has also filed suit against him, claiming that during a surgery to reverse her previous tubal ligation, Kaufmann “left a foreign object” inside her body, according to that suit, which is scheduled to go to trial in June.
In vitro fertilization is one of the most common tools used to help people who are having trouble getting pregnant. The basic steps of IVF are fertilizing an egg in a laboratory, and then implanting that fertilized egg into the mother’s uterus, according to Stanford Medicine. IVF typically costs between $10,000 and $15,000, depending on the recipient’s insurance, according to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology.
This story was originally published February 16, 2023 at 12:43 PM.
