A Florida couple has sued a fertility clinic after a DNA test revealed that the husband is not the biological father of their daughter, despite the couple undergoing IVF in an effort to have a biological child together.
Natalie and Joshua Strong say they spent years navigating injections, hormones, medication and the emotional strain of fertility treatment before finally welcoming their long-awaited baby girl in 2025.
But what should have been one of the happiest moments of their lives quickly turned into a devastating discovery.
According to the couple and their lawsuit, routine blood work conducted after their daughter was born showed that her blood type was incompatible with Joshua being her biological father. A subsequent DNA test reportedly found a zero per cent probability that Joshua was the child’s biological father.
The couple now alleges that Brown Fertility in Jacksonville, Florida, mistakenly used another man’s sperm to create the embryo that resulted in their daughter.
The clinic has denied the allegation.
Natalie said the discovery was particularly difficult because it came almost immediately after she had given birth.
“I was so happy I had her and I love her more than anything in the world. But to hear that right after you have your baby is devastating,” she told CBS News.
Despite the circumstances surrounding her conception, Natalie stressed that the revelation has not changed how she feels about her daughter.
The couple’s IVF journey began in 2023, when they sought to have a biological child together. Their first attempt was unsuccessful, forcing Natalie to go through another round of injections, hormones and medication before the second attempt resulted in a pregnancy.
“We finally got our beautiful baby girl, and it was the best day of my life,” she recalled.
Their happiness, however, was short-lived.
Joshua said he became suspicious after being told their newborn daughter was B positive, while both he and Natalie have negative blood types. The lawsuit alleges that the result raised questions about the child’s biological parentage.
“Within a day they told us her blood type and I pretty much knew immediately that something was messed up at that point,” Joshua said.
The subsequent DNA test confirmed that suspicion, leaving the couple searching for an explanation for how an embryo created through their IVF treatment could have resulted in a child who was not biologically related to Joshua.
They are now suing Brown Fertility and lead physician Dr Samuel Brown as they seek answers about the identity of their daughter’s biological father and what happened to Joshua’s sperm.
The case has also raised another deeply troubling question for the couple: whether Joshua’s sperm could have been mistakenly used in another patient’s IVF treatment.
“We have no idea if they still have it, if they’ve used it elsewhere,” Joshua told CNN. “If there are other potential children somewhere, we have no idea.”
The Strongs say they still have three embryos stored at the clinic, but they do not know whose sperm was used in those embryos.
For Joshua, the uncertainty has added another layer to an already painful situation. While he says he loves his daughter and is grateful to have her, he has described the experience as an emotional struggle that remains difficult to process.
“I think about it every day,” he said at a press conference. “It’s just overwhelming at times.”
The couple’s lawsuit now seeks to establish what went wrong during the IVF process, identify the biological father of their daughter and determine whether any other embryos or patients may have been affected.
For Natalie and Joshua, the questions go far beyond a laboratory error. They say the discovery has changed their understanding of the family they spent years fighting to build, even as they remain determined to raise and love the daughter they had long hoped for.
