Florida court keeps baby with the couple who raised her after embryo mix-up

A Florida court on Monday approved an agreement that ends the custody fight over six-month-old Shay Skor-Mills, who was unknowingly carried after an embryo was mistakenly implanted in Tiffany Skor’s womb at a fertility clinic in Orlando. Under the deal, Tiffany Skor and Steven Mills will keep raising Shay as her permanent parents. Judge Margaret Schreiber said, "I am happy the parties reached an agreement while the child is still relatively young."

The agreement remains confidential, including any question of visitation rights for the biological parents. Their identities, first found in April through DNA testing and clinic records, will also stay private at their request. A representative for the couple said the two sides have already met in person and are building "a relationship of friendship and trust." He added that Tiffany and Steve are committed to respecting the privacy of Shay’s genetic parents and protecting Shay’s own privacy.

The case began in December, when the couple realized something was wrong because they are both white and the baby did not resemble them. Genetic tests confirmed that another couple’s embryo had been implanted in Skor’s uterus. In January, the couple filed an emergency lawsuit against the Fertility Center of Orlando in Longwood and Dr. Milton McNichol, seeking preservation of records, notice to patients, and genetic testing. The clinic closed last month, but court documents say McNichol is linked to a group that opened a replacement clinic at the same location.

The fight is not fully over. The couple had three frozen embryos at the clinic. One embryo was moved to the replacement clinic and will undergo paternity testing that could take up to six weeks; if it is also unrelated genetically, the case may return to court. The third embryo’s fate is still unknown. Their malpractice suit against the clinic and McNichol continues separately, and their lawyers say they will seek compensation for the trauma they suffered. The case follows similar embryo mix-up scandals in California and at Israel’s Assuta Medical Center in Rishon Lezion, where the Supreme Court ruled that Sophia would stay with the parents who raised her.