Two couples in California have given birth to each other's babies after a mistake at the fertility clinic in Los Angeles.
Daphna Cardinale became pregnant with her second daughter in January 2019 and said she was overjoyed knowing the pregnancy would probably be her last.
But when Cardinale gave birth to the baby girl in September 2019, she and her husband, Alexander, immediately had their suspicions due to the difference in skin complexion.
Alexander took several steps away from the birthing table, backing up against the wall when he first saw the baby’s jet-black hair and complexion that was darker than his, his wife’s and their first daughter’s, according to the Washington Post.
"We had no idea at the time that this greatest potential for joy would bring us such enduring pain and trauma," Daphna said at a news conference.
But the couple were in love with the child and trusted the in vitro fertilisation process and their doctors so didn't raise any questions.
After caring for the baby for months, the couple learned about how they had carried another person's child which caused them to feel, "betrayal, anger and heartbreak."
The couple filed a lawsuit against the California Center for Reproductive Health (CCRH) and its owner, Dr Eliran Mor, for medical malpractice, breach of contract, negligence and fraud. It demands a jury trial and seeks unspecified damages.
"I was overwhelmed by feelings of fear, betrayal, anger and heartbreak," Cardinale said during a news conference with her husband announcing the lawsuit. "I was robbed of the ability to carry my own child. I never had the opportunity to grow and bond with her during pregnancy, to feel her kick."
At the news conference where they announced the lawsuit, Cardinale struggled to hold back tears when talking about the trauma she and her husband had been through.
"We missed an entire year of our daughter's life," she says. I didn't get to experience being pregnant with her or birthing her. We missed her entire newborn period, we never saw our baby's entrance into the world or cuddled her in her first seconds of life.
"My memories of childbirth will always be tainted by the sick reality that our biological child was given to someone else.
"The baby I fought to bring into this world was not mine to keep. The daughter we raised and bonded with was gone after months of affection."
The other couple involved in the alleged mix-up have remained anonymous but plan to file a similar lawsuit, according to the attorney who represents all four parents.
The lawsuit claims CCRH mistakenly implanted the other couple's embryo into Daphna and transferred the Cardinales' embryo - made from Daphna's egg and Alexander's sperm - into the other woman.
The babies, who are both girls, were born a week apart in September 2019.
Both couples unwittingly raised the wrong child for nearly three months before DNA tests confirmed that the embryos were swapped, according to the filing.
"The Cardinales, including their young daughter, fell in love with this child and were terrified she would be taken away from them," the complaint says.
"All the while, Alexander and Daphna did not know the whereabouts of their own embryo, and thus were terrified that another woman had been pregnant with their child - and their child was out in the world somewhere without them."
The babies were swapped back in January 2020.
