White Couple Sue Sperm Bank After They Were Given Sample From Black Donor

A white lesbian couple in Ohio are suing their sperm bank after they were mistakenly given, and became pregnant with, African-American sperm. The couple claim they will struggle to bring up a multiracial daughter in their predominantly white community.

A white couple from Ohio are suing a sperm bank after one of the women became pregnant using sperm donated by a black man.

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Jennifer Cramblett and her partner, Amanda Zinkon, are seeking $50,000 (£30,000) in damages after Midwest Sperm Bank, in Downers Grove, Illinois, sent them sperm from a black man rather than the white donor they had originally chosen.

Cramblett and Zinkon claim that while they love their daughter, Payton, who is now 2 years old, they worry they’ll struggle to bring her up in their predominantly white community.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the lawsuit states: “Jennifer lives each day with fears, anxieties and uncertainty about her future and Payton's future.”

The suit claims Cramblett grew up surrounded by people “with stereotypical attitudes about non-whites”, and that the 36-year-old “did not know African-Americans until she attended college at the University of Akron”.

AP Photo/Mark Duncan

Due to this, it is alleged she faced a steep learning curve that included taking Payton to get her hair cut in a black neighbourhood where Cramblett was "obviously different in appearance, and not overtly welcome”.

Cramblett and Zinkon allegedly learned of the mix-up just months after marrying in early 2012, when they rang Midwest Sperm Bank to reserve more sperm in the hope Zinkon could also become pregnant.

Quoting the lawsuit filed on Monday, the Associated Press reported that Cramblett discovered in a phone call to the clinic that she had become pregnant with sperm from donor No. 330, a black man, instead of No. 380, the white donor chosen by the couple.

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She told AP: "They took a personal choice, a personal decision, and took it on themselves to make that choice for us out of pure negligence.”

The couple said they brought the lawsuit against the sperm bank to prevent it making the same mistake again.

AP Photo/Mark Duncan

Cramblett (pictured with her attorney, Tim Misny), said she worries Payton could be stigmatised by her own family and schoolfriends, and that therapists have advised her to move to a more racially diverse area.

According to the Chicago Tribune, an attorney for the sperm bank said it would not comment on active legal proceedings.