The parents are suing:
The couple says that they have been forced to raise a child who is “not even the same race, nationality, color “¦ as they are,” the judge said in the ruling . . .. . . They say that “while we love Baby Jessica as our own, we are reminded of this terrible mistake each and every time we look at her; it is simply impossible to ignore,” the judge’s decision said.
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{ 40 comments }
This is a chain of custody issue. It’ll be interesting to see how the defense plays out.
how can “nationality” be a factor??? shes of the nation she was BORN in .
“They say that “while we love Baby Jessica as our own, we are reminded of this terrible mistake each and every time we look at her; it is simply impossible to ignore,” the judge’s decision said.”
So they love her like their own, and it just galls them to look at her.
So is the family doing what needs to be done here, quickly getting the kid into adoption while still young enough to bond well with families less particular?
Once parents put words like those into the public record do they really expect that this kid isn’t going to read them some day. They cannot possibly say those things and expect that they can keep this kid without some completely predictable and serious fallout in the future.
Nothing like your parents trying to get rich by saying your entire existence is a mistake.
For heaven sake, the way you are saying is the couple has no right to be upset. There is nothing wrong with adoption, but most people – probably including most of you – would choose to have baby that is genetically theirs. Most kids wonder “do I look like my mommy or my daddy?” What if this baby grows up, looks at the parents and starts asking “who is my real daddy?” What if the child ends up having some medical problems and the couple has no way of knowing which genetic problems there might be.
The fact that they love this baby has nothing to do with the fact that they wanted to have their own baby, they went through fertility treatments which not only are expensive but are also hard on the woman. If they wanted somebody else’s baby they could’ve tried to adopt and spared all the trouble.
No matter what they say or how anybody puts it comes off as Jessica’s existence being a mistake. I don’t think anyone wants to think of their life that way.
Perhaps the parents should take a step back and realize just how lucky they are. They have a beautiful child to raise. DNA does not make one a parent.
Maybe these people need to take a very close look in the mirror. The fact that they state they are forced to raise this child, and that they are reminded of this everytime they are in public is as ignorant as it is stupid. They are the one’s that had the “PROBLEM” in the first place. I am not saying that a mistake like that is not devistating, but to, in public and in print, say the things they have said is just beyond words. I agree, give the baby to a family that will love the child and give the child the life every child needs. Then they need just stand and watch a loving family raise this child and see what they gave up.
I can’t believe that so many people will line up to criticise this family. They have a legitimate grievance and a huge one! If I paid a clinic to provide invitro fertilisation services of my sperm and my wife’s egg, and ended up a public cukold by raising not just another man’s child but a child that is obviously so as it is of another race, I would have a HUGE problem with that and so would the vast majority of reasonable, compasionate and non-racist people.
It is not a problem easily solved by dropping the kid off at an orphanage or adoption agency. Mom carried it for 9 months and it is her biological child. Dad bonded to it while in utero before he knew that he had paid to get cukolded and even if he didn’t, can’t ignore his wifes feelings. Yet he can’t just decide to ignore the obvious fact that their famliy, including the child, will be dealing with this for generations. Also, note that mixed race children are very very hard for adoption agencies to place. That says something about the extra social burden this child will face. The lawsuit will not let on to her that her conception is a mistake–that will soon be obvious to her regardless. No matter how much they love this child and work to do right by her, they have been seriously wronged.
It does not matter if anyone else thinks that they ought to be just as happy with a healthy child who is not their own. That is not what they set out to do or paid for, and that is not a normal risk of the procedure. Res ipsa loquitur. The only question is the amount of the damages.
15 years on the web now and I still get suprised at how holier than thou people can be.
looking at the mother, she seems to have alot of issues dealing with her true self. she is not white. to point the finger at that poor child, like she is a mistake is horrable. if they didn’t go public with this, no one would even know the difference. she looks like the mother and sister. their are alot of mixed kids that one child can look like the one race, and the sibling can look like the other. my friends have a koren mother and white father. the one child looks like a pure white child and the other looks pure koren. same parents. so what. they are just looking to make money. i’m not saying that the clinic didn’t mess up, but lets face it they look like any other mixed race family. the mother needs to face the fact she is not white and try to stop pretending that she is. the mother has the issues, not the child.
I am no expert on fertility, however if the mother is Dominican, which can be part African since there are many Black Dominicans that Baby’s color may be from her own genes. She had what we call a “throw back”. This has happened when many Black or Dark skinned African Americans have very slight skinned children. It is common with in Black families to have babies that are different shades of Black. J.Ali NP
When you take pro-creation out of God’s hands and put it into “Man’s” hands then you need to be prepared for what happens.
Instead of thinking of her as a “mistake” they should be thankful they have a healthy child.
There are so many people that would love to trade shoes with them now!
Why do some Dominicans think that they are not black. That poor little girl will definitely have an inferiority complex as long as she stays with that mother. Little Jessica looks just like her mother. And her mother’s mother was probably even darker in complexion. I have no doubt that that little girl will be treated differently than her sister.
Let me make this very simple: I’ll gladly take Baby “Jessica” as my own. I’ll allow her to change her name to one she believes best reflects her wonderful personality. I won’t regret the reason how she “became”, why she “is” here, and I’ll cherish the phenomenal woman she’ll “become”. The birth mother and her husband may spend all the time they wish bringing everybody to court; my little girl and I will have a playdates.
The mother needs get over herself.
Sounds like she felt the need to lighten her own bloodlines.
As a fair skin Black-American, Mrs.
Andrews has more African features
than I do.
She is pitiful and self hating.
My husband and I want to know who do we call to take this baby from these horrible, pathetic people.
Wouldn’t it be something if and when they find out who the true sperm donor was and it was another white man. I wonder what Miss “I’m Dominican” would say then.
This is a monumentally ignorant couple masquerading as parents. The type of languages this coupled has used to describe their child– “mistake”, “different color, race, and nationality”, “forced to raise”, “every time we look at her” etc., evidence ignorance, regret, and an annoyance which they can visit upon the child when no one is watching. The mother, especially, is palpably ignorant and self-loathing. That she, a person from the Dominican Republic, would consider her black child as “different color, race, and nationality” is pure idiocy and borderline lunacy. What is Dominican Republic but a conglomeration of all races, especially a mixture of blacks and Latinos? What a moronic mother?
Obviously, the judge seems embarrassed by these parents’ languages, hence he was quoting them. Anyone who knows them should be embarrassed for them and at them. Their language is despicable and demeaning to the child; their claim to loving the child is incredible, and their road to pursuing redress, over whatever error the lab made, has showcased them as dangers to the child. If I had the power, I would have Children’s Protective Services keep an eye on them. I am chagrined at this couple’s ignorance and language!
I think those people should be ashamed of themselves. That little girl is only two years old and will have to live with this the rest of her life. What about her sister who is only 4 she will be taunted in preschool over this because people and their children can be miserable. Jessica is a beautiful and lively child and what mother could ever make those kind of comments about her own child. She looks awfully dark to me and ewven darker in person. To release family pictures to be printed on the front page several newspapers is a disgrace I hope they will be happy with the money they get because that poor child will never be happy that family is doomed in the public eye. SHAME ON THEM!
Anon 7:06 No matter how you put it or defend their actions you are calling a child’s existence a mistake. They wish their child was never born and they want someone different. An impossible argument to get around no matter what was done in the fertility clinic.
The mother was born in the Dominican Republic “and has a complexion, skin coloration and facial characteristics typical of that region,” while the father is Caucasian, the judge quoted the Andrewses’ papers as saying. That is an absolutely ridiculous comment. There is no skin coloration, facial characteristic or complexion that is typical of that region. Dominicans come in all shades, hair textures, and with all different facial characteristics like the rest of the carribean and latin america. What ignorance…. there is nothing more sad than someone denying their own people.
If I were those parents, I’d slap them. And yes, I’ve been through the infertility route AND the adoption route, and are truly blessed with four beautiful boys.
Would I have been upset if they had mixed my eggs with the wrong sperm for vice versa? Sure! But it is something my husband and I theorized that in some minute way, it could happen. I would be more upset because I’d be worried that they ‘biological’ other parent would want custody.
Our first child was adopted at birth and is biracial (black/white). My husband and I are white. I’ve never once treated him or looked at him any differently than the 3 boys I gave birth to. As a matter of fact, sometimes I actually forget that I didn’t give birth to him.
I guess I feel sorry for these people because instead of realizing how lucky they are to have a child to raise, they are simply treating her as a mistake. Pathetic.
Send the baby to me, she’d fit right in with us.
This is NOT the first time this happens. Back in the 90’s in The Netherlands, twins were born through ivf. They were supposed to have the same mother and father (same egg/sperm) yet when they were born one came out caucasian whereas the other twin came out looking a lot darker. They did NOT share the same DNA. There was a thorough investigation and later a trial and the conclusion was that a couple, the father to be more precise, that had been going through ivf before the couple in question was the father of one of the twins. It was found that equipment had not been sterilized well enough before the second ivf.
The darker twin did remain in the family as that is what he knew as being his family and the mother was the biological mother. They were about 2 years old when the case was in the court system.
It was a very odd case, which fortunately came to a good resolution.
the mother wants to be white and is not. she is of hispanic and african heritage. her beautiful baby girl is also. she was wronged, however, her language is racist and anything but loving. i would raise her and i am not hispanic.
Here’s another dose of “awwwww” for you — a doggie mama adopted a baby squirrel and is now taking care of it — and nursing it — just as lovingly and protectively as she does with her other pups. A tiny helpless rodent is adorable, clinging to its new mommy’s back. Looks like love is blind after all — maternal love, at least. So Baby Jessica, if your own mother doesn’t want you the rest of the world certainly does!
What a bunch of self-righteous judgemental people you are. All you adoptors, adoptees, mixed-race persons, ect—it isn’t about you! It is about them. They bargined for one thing and got another and have a right to feel cheated because they were. Their action is not an insult to you–why do you feel entitled to insult them?
Anon 7:22–
No, this is isn’t about us, but it is about the child, whether the parents realize it or not.
If this is just a matter of “damaged goods” or a bad business transaction one would hope that it might be resolved without having to go to the courts. A quiet settlement, some compensation, etc…
By airing the case in public I sure hope the parents feel the damage done to them is much more serious than the damage about to be done to the “unwanted” child.
While it must have been a shock when they got the DNA test results, where are their brains to claim that the child is not of the same nationality. If they are American citizens, then so is the child. It is a child from crying out loud. They wanted a child and they got one, sure it is not “their own,” but so what. WE adopted from a third world country, the child does not look like us, but you know what she is ours, it got to the point when I had all the kids out at the same time and people would ask which was the adopted one I would have to stop and look. She was and is simply part of the family.
Incidentally, this is not a first. There was a case in Europe a few years ago where twins were born, also by IVF. One was white and one was black. They are raising them as twin and have learned to handle the looks and stupid remarks. They were also able to find the bio father of the black one.
PLEASE, PLEASE TELL ME THIS A EARLY APRIL FOOLS PRANK.
OH, THIS POOR COUPLE HAVING TO RAISE A CHILD (WHO ISN’T THEIRS) I am sick. If this couple is having such a hard time with the raising of this child, there are alternatives….many of which I cannot think of saying. But since my husband and I have tried IVF unsuccessfully 9 times, and have paid an unbelieveable amount of money to have a healthy child, we would be more than happy to take this poor”defective” child from these 2 people. Sorry it is hard for me to call them parents.
I feel terrible for little Nicole, who unfortunately one day will know of all of this.. HOW VERY VERY SAD.
This baby is from the mothers fertilized egg.
It is HER baby – and really it is both of theirs since they have raised it thus far.
If this beautiful child UPSETS and DISGUSTS THEM SO MUCH – THERE ARE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WANTING A CHILD. LET ONE OF THEM ADOPT HER.
I understand being upset HOWEVER they should be seeking to make sure steps are taken to make sure this does not re-occur – INSTEAD they are taking steps to try to make themselves RICH – With NO concern over this poor childs feelings or welfare.
Shame on you people! YOU do not deserve ANY child at all.
This is a terrible mistake,and I truely feel for the parents. But this was not Jessica’s fault and all those comments being made about her should not be made in her presence nor the other childs presence. she should be treated with the same love as the other child and if you the parents feel you can not treat or look at her with love as your own then save her the hurt and pain and suffering and let her be raised by a loving family. I say its better to give her up then to have her feeling like a outcast and unwanted.
GOD DON’T MAKE NO MISTAKES!!!!!!!!!
I agree with Dr. Scott. This should have been handled with a private arbitrator. This is not good publicity for the fertility clinic and these statements are disrespectful and hurtful to the child by basically stating that they wish she hadn’t been born. The fertility clinic should have waved all fees and set up a large college trust fund for the child and the parents should have been happy with that. The fertility clinic would probably be more than happy to agree if a confidentiality agreement was signed.
There was a case in Europe a few years ago where twins were born, also by IVF. One was white and one was black. They are raising them as twin and have learned to handle the looks and stupid remarks. They were also able to find the bio father of the black one.
I believe they also sued the clinic.
Maybe they shouldn’t made the comments, but do you all think the clinic should just be let off the hook and continue to make similar mistakes in future?
For the record, I am an infertile woman. So yes, I’ll be happy to have a healthy child. But one shouldn’t expect this type of mistakes from the clinic and just say “it’s ok”.
“If this is just a matter of “damaged goods” or a bad business transaction one would hope that it might be resolved without having to go to the courts. A quiet settlement, some compensation, etc…
By airing the case in public I sure hope the parents feel the damage done to them is much more serious than the damage about to be done to the “unwanted” child.”
Whether it settles or not is up to both parties, not just the parents. If the clinic wouldn’t do a “quiet settlement”, then they had no other avenue but a public filing. It’s highly likely that some of the regular courthouse watchers just picked this story up and sent it on to reporters – happens all the time.
We’re all just speculating though.
have you seen the mother? She’s dominican. The girl in question look just like their other natural daughter. Look in the mohter’s family heritage and you’ll find many dark skinned dominicans’ in her family>
They did not get a child of another race!!! The mother is Dominican Republican – that’s a Black person, who speaks Spanish! Maybe she’s upset that her plans to marry lighter were thwarted; wasn’t it her egg, anyway? Even if the clinic made a mistake, they should be compensated, but they should not have went public. I agree with everyone that all those negative comments about that beautiful baby girl are stupid and insensitive; I don’t understand how they could say in one breath they love her and in the same sentence they can’t stand to look at her – that is NOT love. She is going to grow up, I hope with two different parents that love, appreciate and respect her for who she is, not what she looks like.
Unconditional love. I am sure there is a reason underlining this whole issue…The reason the baby is of another race is so they could identify that there was a change in the sperm used. If the baby had been the same race it would not be an issue evens if it was the wrong sperm used. Theuy would not have even questioned the baby’s genetics. There is a reason for everything! Maybe it is the family is to learn unconditional love, and make sure that medical personals are liable and responsible for there actions. Two lessons in one.
This child needs love and is obviously here to teach everyone something regardless of the lesson. She is a gift! And nomatter what her parents think of her she will always be.
OK, so time for the obvious question, would they be upset if the child was lighter than both of the parents? Would they have even lauched the inquiry? I know plenty of people that would trade places with these parents in a heartbeat. Gee, maybe one of those celebrities would take this child off your hands instead of traveling to Africa and you could just start over. Or maybe this child is healthy and the one you could have had would have had a serious disease or birth defect. Who knows? Like Forrest Gump said….”Life is like a box of chocolates; you don’t know what you’re going to get”. BTW, dark chocolates are my favorite!
I’m a African Amer female, married to a White Man, unfortunately after every test possible we couldn’t conceived. We opt to try foster care. We were asked what color child we wanted. The question never occured to us, we simply wanted a child.
The mother is Dominican she is black, she looks black and to say she is white is denying her roots. The chile is her biological child and whose to say that the sperm came from a black man, since she comes from the Dominican Republic the African heritage is there. Just looking at her features you can tell that she is of African decent, so my problem in accepting their tales of woo is how can you deny your child when you are black yourself. The father may be white but if he married his wife who is black then how come he is upset about the way the child looks now, what do you expect. Give that poor little girl to someone who will love her and not look at the color of her skin. They are pathetic.
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