A Park Avenue fertility clinic’s blunder has left a family devastated - after a black baby was born to a Hispanic woman and her white husband, the couple charges in a lawsuit.
The mistake, made during in-vitro conception, wasn’t discovered until Jessica Andrews was born - and it became clear she didn’t look anything like her mom, Nancy, or dad, Thomas, the suit says.
The baby’s complexion was much darker than that of her mom - a light-skinned native of the Dominican Republic - or dad.
“Jessica doesn’t look like them,” said the couple’s attorney Howard Stern, of Long Island.
When Thomas and Nancy Andrews asked their doctor, Manhattan obstetrician Martin Keltz, what was going on, he allegedly told them that Jessica’s condition was an “abnormality,” and assured them she would “get lighter over time,” according to the couple’s suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.
But they found out the truth when DNA tests proved that Jessica - born in October 2004 - was not conceived with Thomas’ sperm.
“Three DNA test were taken, and each one excluded the father,” Stern said.
The tests showed that Nancy Andrews is the mother - her egg was used, but with the wrong sperm.
The family is so distraught that they have not even told many of their relatives about the situation. The Andrews fear the natural father may try to come forward and claim rights to the girl, the suit says.
“Jessica will never know or be able to determine the identity of her actual father, and will consequently never be able to know her full medical history and condition,” the suit also claims.
They also fear that that the unnamed African-American donor’s sperm may have been used to dupe other couples, or that another couple may have gotten Thomas Andrews’ sperm.
“There is continuing uncertainty . . . as to whether the genetic material of either or both of them has been inappropriately used for others and that they may have natural children or half-children that they are unaware of,” the suit said.
Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam ruled this week that the Andrews’ emotional distress suit can go to trial against the fertility clinic - New York Medical Services for Reproductive Medicine, headed by Dr. Reginald Puckett - and the embryologist who allegedly mixed up the samples, Carlo Acosta.
The judge dismissed claims against Keltz because he had no hand in performing the allegedly botched fertilization procedure.
Despite the alleged baby bungle, little Jessica was born healthy.
The Andrews, however, fear that because of the circumstances of her birth “she may be subjected to physical and emotional illness as a result of not being the same race as her parents and siblings,” according to their suit.
The doctors and attorneys for the clinic could not be reached. In court papers, they have claimed they are not legally liable for the sperm screw-up.
