A dramatic appeal was filed Tuesday morning in the District Court of Lod regarding a high-profile mix-up at an Israeli IVF clinic. This comes just two days after a family court ruled that Baby Sophia, who has been raised by another couple since birth, should be transferred to her biological parents. Along with the appeal, the couple has requested a delay in the execution of the court’s decision.
In the appeal letter, which was obtained by Ynet, lawyers Galit Kerner, an expert in medical negligence, and Yonathan Kanir, a family law specialist, argue that transferring Sophia to her biological parents is “wrongful and outrageous.” The attorneys represent both the family who has raised Sophia and the birth mother, into whose womb the wrong embryo was implanted due to the mix-up.
“The parents who gave birth to Sophia and have been raising her never agreed to anyone taking her from them,” the appeal states. The appellants are seeking to delay both the change in the official registry of Sophia’s parents and her physical transfer to her biological parents.
The appeal criticizes several aspects of the court’s ruling, including the apparent disregard for serious claims, the prevention of important evidence from being presented, and the rejection of key testimony. The appellants also challenge the professional opinion that was submitted during the case, particularly the genetic tests that led to the decision.
According to the appeal, the consent given by the parents raising Sophia for genetic testing did not indicate they intended to give up their parental rights. The ruling mandates that the transfer of Sophia should occur within 60 days unless the court grants the appellants’ request to delay it.
The case dates back to September 2022, when a genetic test revealed that a woman undergoing IVF was carrying an embryo that was not genetically related to her or her partner. Before the baby’s birth, Assuta’s investigative team initially identified another patient as the likely genetic mother. However, further legal investigations confirmed that she was not genetically linked to the child.
The investigation suggested that the mix-up occurred during the embryo transfer process, which involved two patients scheduled for transfers one after the other. As a result, embryos intended for one woman were mistakenly implanted in another.
About a year and a half after Sophia’s birth, her genetic parents were located and demanded that she be transferred into their custody.
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