Fertility clinics serve an incredibly important purpose. Without them, many couples with reproductive issues would not be able to have children on their own. Fertility clinics have a very sensitive job, as they are responsible for thousands of fragile embryos. When clinics make a mistake, it can have devastating consequences, as we’ve seen in the past with the University Hospital cold storage failure. Recently, another local fertility clinic made headlines for an entirely different reason: a couple’s child was conceived with sperm that was not her husbands.
Good Morning America Story
In 1994, Joseph and Jennifer Cartellone had undergone a successful in-vitro fertilization procedure. The Cartellone family welcomed a daughter, Rebecca nine months later. Nearly 25 years later, Rebecca gifted DNA kits to her parents for Christmas, and she ordered one for herself as well. When the results came in, she was in for the shock of her life. The only correlations present were between Jennifer and her mother. He father’s Italian heritage did not show at all. Something was clearly wrong.
In order to prove the results of the ancestral DNA tests were accurate, Rebecca voluntarily took a paternity test determine if the man she called dad for the last 25 years was actually her biological father. The results of the DNA kit were in fact correct. The paternity test came back negative, which meant her dad was not her biological father. The fertility clinic committed a grievous error. As it turned out, the sperm belonged to a physician that worked for the Christ Hospital Network. The Catellone family sued the Institute for Reproductive Health and Ovation Fertility, the Cincinnati-based clinic, as well as Christ Hospital Network.
The University Hospital Case
Although the Cartellone family’s case is different from the issues that occurred at the University Hospital Ahuja Fertility Center back in 2018, there are some similarities. Both highlight just how important it is for fertility clinics to follow proper protocols. As a result, hundreds of families lost their chance to have biological children, and the Cartellone family’s world was rocked.
Filing a lawsuit is the best way to ensure that hospital protocols and procedures are strictly followed so that no other family has to suffer in the future. If your family was the victim of an unethical or careless fertility clinic, call me today and I’ll Make Them Pay!®
