Video captures moment couple re-united with biological daughter after IVF mix up
‘I didn’t get to experience being pregnant with her or birthing her,’ says mom
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Your support makes all the difference.A Los Angeles couple is suing their fertility clinic for allegedly switching their embryo with another couples’.
After doing a DNA test, Alexander Cardinale, 41, and his wife Daphna, 43, realised they were not biologically related to their baby. After further investigation, it became apparent that another mom had grown and birthed their baby.
Each couple had each spent four months raising a child that wasn’t biologically theirs.
The Cardinales did a DNA test after they became suspicious that their baby bore no resemblance to them or their other child.
They’ve since shared the emotional moment they met their biological daughter, Zoe, for the first time.
“Alexander and I are devastated. We missed an entire year of our daughter’s life,” Ms Cardinale told Sky News, the four months after birth and the full pregnancy.
“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.
The couple is suing the California Center for Reproductive Health for medical malpractice, negligence and fraud.
Not only has the couple had to deal with gaining a daughter and losing a daughter, their first daughter Olivia, who is five-years-old, has had to adjust to losing a sister.
“That’s still the biggest trauma for me,” Mr Cardinale said to Today, it’s “tough to explain to a five-year-old that the child, that that sister that they imprinted on and love – it’s their sister – is not their sister.”
The two couples are going through an adjustment period and arrange visits twice a month. The Cardinales hope that by telling their story more regulations will be put in place for US fertility clinics.
“Our memories of childbirth will always be tainted by the sick reality that our biological child was given to someone else, and the baby that I fought to bring into this world was not mine to keep,” said Ms Cardinale.
The Independent has contacted the California Center for Reproductive Health for comment.
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