Court rules child born after IVF mix-up must be taken from birth parents, given to genetic parents

The Rishon Lezion Family Court rules that the genetic parents of a baby born in a 2022 mix-up at an IVF clinic are the child’s legal parents, and orders that she be removed from the custody of the parents who raised her and given to the parents whose genes she carries.

The baby girl, Sophia, now over two years old, is in the custody of the woman who gave birth to her and the woman’s partner. The couple mounted a months-long legal battle to keep and raise the child despite not being genetically linked.

Judge Oved Elias says his decision is based on the recommendation of Dr. Daniel Gotlib, a psychologist from the Shinui Institute appointed to the case who recommended that the baby be given to the custody of her genetic parents. A second position paper written by two social workers had recommended leaving the baby in the custody of the parents who raised Sophia, but Elias rejected this recommendation.

The judge says that the transfer of custody should be carried out “with an organized plan” to be performed under the auspices of the Tel Aviv Social Welfare department.

The mix-up at Rishon Lezion’s Assuta Medical Center was discovered when the then-in utero fetus was determined to have medical problems and consequently underwent a variety of tests. The results showed that neither the woman carrying the child nor her partner could be the biological parents.