DURBAN - For nine years, a mother has watched her child grow with joy until DNA testing revealed the child was not biologically hers.
A legal battle is now unfolding over the child's true identity and how such an IVF mix-up occurred in KwaZulu-Natal.
And two families must navigate a life-changing mistake that has upended their worlds.
Their journey began in 2015 and by 2017 they welcomed a baby girl, believing all three embryos had been transferred.
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Two years later, the clinic informed them that one embryo remained in storage, raising troubling questions about the fate of their embryos.
Later, they learned of an alleged 2016 mix-up: an Indian woman had given birth to a Black baby boy. Suspecting the boy was biologically theirs, the couple launched an investigation.
This led to DNA testing and a legal battle, testing the family says confirmed their biological link.
In 2019, a whistleblower revealed a massive 2016 blunder: an alleged embryo mix-up that led another woman to give birth to a Black baby boy.
The mix-up did not just shatter one family. The boy’s birth mother also sued the clinic and eventually reached a settlement.
The affected woman claims the boy’s birth mother was allegedly willing to give him up, but was persuaded to keep him.
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Meanwhile, she herself continued IVF treatment at the same clinic, unaware of the ongoing dispute.
IVF mix-ups are extremely rare, thanks to multiple safeguards like barcode or RFID tracking and independent staff checks.