White couple gave birth to Asian daughter after fertility clinic mishap

A white couple says a clinic fertilised the mum’s egg with the wrong man’s sperm. They only realised once baby developed Asian features.

A white couple from New Jersey in the US, who had a daughter through IVF, were stunned when the baby developed “Asian features” — and a DNA test proved the husband was not the father, according to their lawsuit against the clinic.

Kristina Koedderich and Drew Wasilewski, who are now divorced, went to the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science at Saint Barnabas in 2012 and spent $US500,000 for treatment, according to the court papers filed in Essex County Superior Court.

Their daughter was born in 2013 and “a couple (of) years later, they noticed the baby started having Asian features”, the couple’s lawyer David Mazie of Mazie, Slater, Katz & Freeman, told the New York Post.

A DNA test in 2015 confirmed that there was “0 per cent probability” that Drew, 49, was his daughter’s biological father, according to the suit.

The clinic’s negligence caused “the breakdown of the marriage between Kristina and Drew Wasilewski,” claims the suit.

Superior Court Judge Keith Lynott last month ordered the clinic to hand over a list of men who donated sperm about the same time the couple used the facility — in the hopes of narrowing down who the girl’s biological father is.

The parents want to know whose sperm was used so they can learn about their daughter’s genetic history, who is now 6, in case she wants to have a relationship with her biological dad in the future.

They love her very much, but it’s a very sensitive and very stressful situation for them, Mr Mazie said.

They also want to know if Mr Wasilewski’s semen was used for someone else’s IVF treatment.

The couple is seeking unspecified monetary damages, saying the clinic’s mistake caused “great pain, suffering, permanent injuries and disabilities, as well as the loss of enjoyment of the quality of life”.

A Saint Barnabas Medical Centre spokesperson told Patch it doesn’t comment on litigation matters.

Last month, an Ohio couple who also went through IVF treatment filed a lawsuit claiming their clinic used a stranger’s sperm to father their now 24-year-old daughter.