Black couple demand DNA test to show if Indian mom received their embryo

2026-03-08 - 07:33

A bitter legal battle is brewing over an eight‐year‐old boy after a Ballito couple approached the Durban High Court to compel an Indian woman to allow a DNA test, claiming the child was born from their embryo mistakenly given to her by a fertility clinic nine years ago. The woman initially resisted, arguing that the test was not in the child’s best interests and accusing the couple of harassment. ‘African features’ According to the Sunday Times, the dispute began when a receptionist at the Care Clinic in Westville alerted the couple that one of their embryos may have been implanted in another patient. The couple, who underwent IVF in 2016 and believed all three embryos had been used, hired a private investigator. They discovered that the woman had given birth to a black boy in June 2017, just a month after their own daughter was born. Court papers reveal the woman herself suspected an error when her son was born “with African features.” ALSO READ: The mixed effects of DNA fiddling Parental rights She sued the clinic and reached a confidential settlement. The clinic’s owner, Dr Anil Ramdeo, confirmed the settlement but claimed the Ballito couple had consented in writing to donate their embryo-an assertion they strongly deny. Judge Peter Olsen has now appointed a curator ad litem to represent the child and advise on his best interests before any DNA testing proceeds. The woman insists she is the only mother the boy knows and that custody should remain with her. The couple say they are not seeking parental rights at this stage but want legal certainty to pursue action against the clinic. Artificial insemination In 2022, the High Court in Pretoria declared part of the Children’s Act, which regulates the parental rights of couples who conceive children through artificial insemination, unconstitutional. The ruling highlighted disputes over parentage, consent, and the best interests of children, issues that echo the Ballito embryo mix‐up case. This judgment is groundbreaking for unmarried couples in permanent life-long partnerships who want to have children through artificial insemination. Children’s Act This is because the Act did not automatically recognise both people in the partnership as the legal parents of any child conceived through artificial insemination. According to the Act, when a married couple has a child through artificial insemination, both partners are automatically recognised as the legal parents of their child. This applies even in cases when only one spouse donated a gamete to conceive the child, such as their sperm or an ovum. Legal challenge When an unmarried couple, or a couple in a permanent life partnership, have a child through artificial insemination, only the person who donated the sperm or ovum is recognised as the legal parent. In 2021, an unmarried lesbian couple started proceedings in the High Court against the Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, to declare these sections of the Act unconstitutional. The minister did not oppose the case. NOW READ: ‘It’s been unbearable’: Family waits 2 years to bury son while police sit on DNA result