A mix-up at a fertility clinic in New Jersey has had some dramatic repercussions and has resulted in legal action against the facility.
A couple — Kristina Koedderich and Drew Wasilewski — who welcomed a child in 2013, has recently come forward with claims that they have spent half a million dollars to be able to have a child together.
A spokesperson for the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science at St. Barnabas in New Jersey has responded by claiming that the actual expenses totaled around 10% of that.
In any case, an error in the process resulted in the couple giving birth to an Asian baby — something which created a problem in their family, as they are both white.
In 2015, people around them started noticing that the child did not look like the father. A DNA test confirmed that the little girl is only related to Koedderich, therefore a mix-up with Wasilewski’s sperm.
Wasilewski had the following to say on the confusing and complicated matter: “You want to have a child, and you can’t have one, and then you’re finally able to … and it was upsetting. Very confusing.”
Wasilewski said he often wonders if he has biological children out there according to his attorney, David Mazie: “The problem we have here, what happened to Drew’s sperm? It was supposed to be inseminated that day. So if it didn’t go into Kristina, is it someone else who he fathered?”
Wasilewski, who is co-parenting with his ex-wife, said he worries about his future relationship with his daughter and adds: “If I have other children, I want them to know who I am.”
The couple eventually got a divorce after the incident, and they have now filed two individual lawsuits against the institute for their role in the situation.
According to reports, the facility may be ordered to release the list of all sperm donors registered as a result of the ongoing legal proceedings.
The clinic has stated that they take patient privacy very seriously and were going to thoroughly investigate the incident to determine the cause of the mix-up.
Wasilewski added: “Unfortunately, there’s no perfect outcome, because you can never go back in time. The best outcome is that this clinic and other clinics follow suit and change their procedures and make sure this never, ever happens to another couple.”
There have been some controversial responses to the announcement that donor identities will have to be released, although the information will likely be contained within the context of the legal proceedings.
Some believe that the outcome of this case could have some serious implications for the sperm donor industry, and it might turn some people off from the idea in the future.
