The Fertility Center of Orlando announced its closure amid mounting legal and financial problems, including a lawsuit alleging the Longwood clinic implanted another couple’s embryo in a patient who gave birth to a child that was not biologically hers. The clinic announced the decision was made “after thoughtful consideration,” though it was not immediately clear when operations would cease.

Tiffany Score and Steven Mills sued the clinic and its head reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Milton McNichol in January after testing revealed that a baby girl Score gave birth to in December 2025 was not their biological child. Score and Mills had decided to pursue genetic testing because they are both white and their newborn “displayed the physical appearance of a racially non-Caucasian child,” their lawsuit said. Testing on the baby girl, whom they named Shea, showed her to be 100% South Asian according to their attorney Mara Hatfield.

A second lawsuit filed in March involves a woman who alleged the clinic allowed her to serve as a surrogate for her cousin despite having a “long history of severe mental illness.” The baby she gave birth to had a genetic disorder called thanatophoric dysplasia and died days after birth, the lawsuit says. The legal filing alleges the woman was not “properly psychologically evaluated prior to the impregnation” and that the clinic failed to obtain her past psychological records to determine whether she was fit to be a surrogate.

Both suits name the Fertility Center of Orlando and Dr. Milton McNichol as defendants. Neither McNichol nor the attorneys for him or the fertility center responded to multiple emails and phone calls. In court documents, the defendants have not disputed that Score and Mills’ baby “should be, but is not, the genetic child” of the plaintiffs, and their attorneys have said in hearings that they are cooperating with requests to do DNA testing on other couples to identify the girl’s biological parents.

“I’m hopeful this is just an evolution of a business transition that the doctor had planned before he got our January notice,” said Mara Hatfield, the attorney for Score and Mills. “But I’m concerned that it is an attempt to dodge responsibility.” Hatfield said the clinic has identified one South Asian couple among 16 sets of potential parents whose egg retrieval and embryo transfer dates were around the same time as Score’s, with DNA test results expected any day.

The clinic’s closure highlights broader questions about IVF regulation in the United States. Critics say the United States is an outlier in the developed world in its lack of IVF regulations, and no reliable databases track errors at IVF clinics across the country. IVF is widely employed assisted reproductive technology that involves fertilizing an egg with a sperm in a laboratory to create embryos that are transferred to a woman’s uterus.

“Our clients have a healthy and happy baby girl that they love and that loves them,” Hatfield said. “This is an incredibly emotionally complicated and devastating case.” If the South Asian couple are confirmed as Shea’s biological parents, Score and Mills would like to learn more about them but not necessarily relinquish custody of Shea, according to Hatfield. There is no indication that any of Score and Mills’ embryos resulted in a biological child of theirs being born to another couple.

In an email sent to patients Monday, the Fertility Center of Orlando said another IVF network would open a clinic at the center’s existing location. Patients will “continue to see many of the same trusted and familiar faces who have been part of your care team, along with additional team members committed to supporting you on your journey,” the email said. Neither the email nor the announcement on the clinic’s website specified why the Fertility Center of Orlando was closing or whether McNichol would be among the employees continuing to provide care.