Gay Couple Sues IVF Clinic For Implanting A Girl Embryo When They Requested A Boy

A same-sex couple is suing a fertility clinic for implanting a female embryo into their surrogate when they specifically requested a male.

Albert and Anthony Saniger filed a lawsuit against HRC Fertility and fertility specialist Dr. Bradford A Kolb, according to CBS News. The suit was filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court and had allegations including breach of contract, medical malpractice, negligence, fraudulent concealment, and violation of the Unfair Competition Law and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act.

In a statement, HRC Fertility said it has sought to address the couple’s concerns, but added that “every child has value and limitless potential regardless of gender.” 

“We hope the Sanigers find love and value in their healthy child while so many across the country are struggling with reproductive issues,” the statement added.

The lawsuit goes into detail about how the Sanigers always planned to have two sons and even chose names and created Gmail accounts for the boys prior to their wedding in 2013. The couple alleges that they told Dr. Kolb they were only interested in the male embryos. 

The two men provided their sperm to HRC in May 2020 and paid about $300,000 for the entire process, which included procuring donor eggs and selecting a gestational carrier for the child. The surrogate got pregnant in December 2020 after two unsuccessful embryo transfers. Their baby girl was born in 2021.

“To this day, HRC has offered no explanation for how this error occurred,” the lawsuit says, per CBS.

The Sanigers describe their financial burden as “staggering” because now they’ll be forced to have three children. They still plan to have the two sons they originally planned.

This case is reminiscent of another lawsuit from New York. A Buffalo-based lesbian couple sued the CNY fertility clinic in Latham, NY for allegedly giving them the wrong embryo, The Daily Wire originally reported. Heather Wilhelm-Routenberg and Robin (Robbie) Routenberg-Wilhelm explicitly requested that they have a baby daughter after undergoing fertility treatments but got a son instead.

The couple alleged that Heather “became suicidal” after her son’s birth and entered a “dark depression” upon finding out she was carrying a baby boy. As the victim of sexual abuse, Heather was wary of carrying a male child but ultimately grew to appreciate her child. 

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases