A COUPLE is suing a fertility clinic after they gave birth to a son – but all they wanted was a baby girl.

Heather Wilhelm-Routenberg and her wife Robin (Robbie) had IVF to try for a daughter and sought out a fertility clinic in New York to have embryos implanted. 

The pair, who has used the process of gender selection to ensure the sex of their baby was a girl, chose to use Robbie’s egg and donor sperm to create the embryo, which was implanted into Heather’s womb. 

But it wasn’t until they went for the 15-week scan the couple were left in shock.

The sonographer checked the gender of the baby and revealed they were having a boy. 

Heather explained that both of their “jaws dropped to the floor” and she was convinced she  had someone else’s embryo, describing it like having an “alien” inside her. 

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The couple booked in for a second scan the following day which confirmed Heather was carrying a boy. 

The clinic then started the process and investigation to find out if the embryo belonged to the couple at all.

It took seven weeks as the investigation was underway, and during this time Heather admitted she had “no connection” to the baby.

But when it was confirmed the embryo belonged to the couple, they felt a sense of "deep betrayal."

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Heather said: "We had a healthy baby, but I had no emotional connection and now I had to wrap my head around having a child forever that I wasn’t planning on."

She added she hated the idea of not being able to connect with the baby inside her and described the pregnancy as a "terrible experience."

When he was born in December 2020, she struggled to breastfeed him and began to suffer severe anxiety and suicidal thoughts.

Heather was eventually diagnosed with complex postnatal depression.

However, the pair now have their 18-month-old son who is “full of magic”.

However the couple have decided to sue their fertility clinic for the error, citing medical malpractice and battery.

He’s an innocent being, he didn’t deserve any of this

While Heather is now recovering from postnatal depression, she says she feels "immense guilt and shame" over not being able to bond with him in the early months of his life.

She said: “He’s an innocent being, he didn’t deserve any of this. 

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“The clinic messed with something so integral: our baby’s first formative years.

"That’s the reason I am doing this – because I love my kid so much. We think our son deserved that bond from the start.”

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