Health

‘He Was Put There Against My Will, Just Like Rape’: Lesbian Couple Sues Fertility Clinic For Receiving Male Embryo Instead Of Female

(Photo: Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)

Melanie Wilcox Contributor
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A couple is suing a fertility clinic after receiving a male embryo instead of the female one they were promised.

After Heather Wilhelm-Routenberg found out she was having a boy at 15 weeks pregnant, she and her wife Robin (Robbie) Routenberg-Wilhelm were surprised, The New York Post reported. That’s because CNY fertility clinic in Latham, N.Y., told the couple that the lab could determine the embryo’s sex using Robbie’s egg and the donor’s sperm before it was transferred to Heather, The New York Post reported.

Heather reportedly wanted a girl because she was traumatized by being sexually assaulted twice after college, according to The New York Post. (RELATED: Mothers Swap Babies After Raising Each Other’s Kids In Fertility Clinic Mix-Up, Lawsuit Alleges)

With the assistance of Eric Wrubel of Warshaw Burstein, LLP, Heather and Robbie are suing CNY on 11 counts, which include breach of contract, medical malpractice and battery, The New York Post reported.

Heather proceeded to do IVF after Robbie had a miscarriage – in fact, on the same day, the Post reported.

“We felt attached to this baby girl, and it was going to be a tiny Robbie, which was the best part,” Heather told the outlet.

When Heather found out she was having a boy, she said, “It scared the sh*t out of me. I don’t know how to explain this — it felt like there was an alien living inside of me.”

Heather told the Post that while she’d never have an abortion, she was hoping there was a mix up with someone else, and that they’d swap each other’s babies after giving birth. She described seeing the ultrasound as “the worst night of [her] life,” calling the experience “dumbfounding and traumatizing.”

“I remember lying in my bedroom, thinking, ‘This can’t be happening!’ Not only was the baby in my body not ours, but the baby in my body was male and he was put there against my will, just like rape,” she continued.

Heather told the Post that her son is “an innocent being” who “didn’t deserve any of this.” While she loves her son, she believes that the CNY fertility clinic interfered with the initial bonding phase of their relationship.