A Florida couple has launched legal action against their fertility doctor, alleging that an IVF error resulted in the use of the wrong sperm to conceive their baby.
Natalie Strong, 36, and her husband Joshua Strong, 53, welcomed a daughter last year following two rounds of in vitro fertilization at Brown Fertility Associates in Jacksonville.
But the lawsuit says a standard blood test performed after the baby’s birth raised immediate questions when it showed that the newborn has B-positive blood.
Natalie has O-negative blood, while Joshua has A-negative blood — a combination that, according to the couple, could not biologically produce a child with a positive blood type.
The Strongs filed a negligence lawsuit Thursday against the Jacksonville fertility clinic and Dr Samuel Brown, alleging that sperm belonging to someone other than Joshua was used during the creation of their embryos.
“The report confirmed that Natalie is the biological mother of the daughter she carried and delivered, conceived from the embryo Brown Fertility transferred into her body, and that Joshua is not the biological father,” the court filing states.
“There is only one possible conclusion: Brown Fertility used the wrong sperm.”
During a Thursday press conference announcing the IVF lawsuit, the couple said the discovery that Joshua was not biologically related to their daughter turned what should have been a joyful time with their newborn into heartbreak, First Coast News reported.
Natalie Strong, 36, and Joshua Strong, 53, say a routine blood test revealed that Joshua was not the biological father of their baby girl.
The couple conceived their daughter through IVF at Brown Fertility, but say they learned soon after her birth that her blood type made it biologically impossible for both of them to be her genetic parents.
‘It took away the euphoria of having a baby. I mean, this is going to affect us for the rest of our lives,’ Natalie said.
‘It’s a daily struggle with, you know, the emotional aspect of it ’cause, you know, you do have sadness and anger, and in the same day you also have joy and love,’ Joshua added.
The couple claimed they paid ‘tens of thousands of dollars’ to Brown Fertility to have biological children together, the lawsuit claims.
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Joshua previously had a vasectomy, so he had to undergo a painful sperm retrieval for the IVF process, the suit continued.
‘Joshua submitted to invasive surgery to retrieve sperm that, somewhere between the freezer and the petri dish, was substituted with the sperm of a man Brown Fertility cannot identify,’ the filing stated.
According to the lawsuit, the couple was able to create seven embryos, and Natalie miscarried after the first transfer, but was able to carry the second transfer to term and gave birth on June 5, 2025.
Their lawsuit seeks $50,000 in damages and wants the clinic to be required to account for Joshua’s sperm.
‘We want to know what happened to his sperm. We want to make sure it was not used anywhere else,’ Natalie said.
The baby has a B-positive blood type. Natalie’s blood type is O Negative and Joshua’s is A Negative. Additionally testing revealed Natalie is the biologically mother, but Joshua is not the father
The couple filed a negligence lawsuit against the fertility clinic and their doctor, Dr Samuel Brown, on Thursday, claiming the wrong sperm was used to create their embryos
The couple’s attorney, Rob Marcereau of the Fertility Law Group, told the Daily Mail they want to hold the clinic accountable and help prevent others from going through what they did.
‘The Strongs filed this lawsuit to get answers and hold Dr. Brown and his clinic accountable for what happened,’ Marcereau said.
‘By sharing their story publicly, they also hope to help prevent another family from going through the same thing.’
The Daily Mail contacted Brown Fertility and Dr Brown for comment.