Two Northeast Ohio women are suing a sperm bank after it mixed up donors and gave the same-sex couple sperm from an African-American man instead of the white one they selected. The couple intimated to the media that they are forced to move from Uniontown, Ohio, because of the hive of racial intolerance.
The couple said it’s not about race on Wednesday but reiterated they were looking for compensation to deal with a situation they weren’t prepared to handle.
Jennifer Cramblett, 36, sued Chicago-area Midwest Sperm Bank for wrongful birth and breach of warranty. Cramblett and her partner, Amanda Zinkon wanted their child to bear some resemblance to them since neither woman would be carrying the child to term.
They thought they had selected a baby with blond hair and blue eyes. However, according to the lawsuit, the women did not get the sperm they ordered.
Cramblett said “we love her — she’s dream come true,” Cramblett said of her 2-year-old daughter, Payton. “For people to think I don’t want this child because of her skin tone is just not the case. It angers me that people would even think I don’t want my child.”
Payton isn’t completely white, Cramblett said the family will have to move away from their current home in Uniontown, Ohio — a place she described as white, conservative and too racially intolerant.
“This isn’t LA or New York. We’re not on the coasts. We’re in farm country,” Cramblett said. “That raises my concerns [for Payton.] Being a lesbian growing up in a small town, I went through a lot of things that were hard on me. I don’t want her to have to go through that.”
Cramblett said there are other reasons she wants to move daughter Payton. “I want her to feel very connected to all parts that that make up who she is. I’m not able to give her that part of heritage, and neither is anyone from her family,” she said to HuffPost, admitting that family members have no use for 2-year-old Payton.
Another reason for the move? Cramblett said since her daughter has curly, course hair, she has to drive far from where she lives and to an all-black neighborhood just so Payton can have her hair done properly.
Irate and confused when she got the wrong sperm order from the sperm bank, Cramblett said she discussed the mix-up with her doctor and the sperm bank, but the bank eventually stopped taking her calls. Eventually, she received a typewritten note apologizing for the mistake and a refund for the vials from donor 330, she said. According to Cramblett’s lawsuit, the sperm bank kept the money from previous vials that did not lead to conception.
“It’s hard to believe [the sperm bank] could be so careless with a decision that you took so much time and effort to make,” Cramblett said.
Cramblett said she’s also suing doesn’t want to this to happen to anyone else. “the one mistake that should never be made [at a sperm bank] isn’t made again,”
About Post Author
