Anni and Ashot Manukyan of California saw their son for the first time when he was 6 weeks old.
“I was robbed of holding my son.”
Those were the words of the heartbroken California mom who discovered her baby was implanted into a New York mother as a result of what they called a botched fertility treatment at the CHA Fertility Clinic in Los Angeles.
Anni and Ashot Manukyan of California are coming forward with their horrifying ordeal for the first time since the story made headlines.
"He's my boy. The minute he looked at him and I held him,” Anni told press Wednesday. “He's been mine since the day I got him. Even before I got him, he's been mine."
The New York couple, who remained anonymous, said they spent more than $100,000 for in vitro fertilization before giving birth to twin boys in March, a federal lawsuit said. The couple, who is Asian-American, said they realized something may have gone wrong after birth, when neither of their twins looked Asian.
They said they were also told they would be having girls, when instead, they had two boys that were not related to each other.
The couple was then forced to give up the newborns.
That was when the Manukyans was asked to take a DNA test, and found out the following day that one of the boys, Alec, is biologically their son.
After a process of suing for custody and organizing his travel to California, they finally got to meet their son for the first time.
"He was six weeks by the time we got to see him,” Anni said. “It's indescribable. There were so many emotions running through my head. Like, happiness, sadness that that was the first time. Who wants to meet their child in the lobby of a hotel?"
The New York couple, however, was not as lucky. They said they have no idea what happened to their embryos and are suing the facility of medical malpractice, negligence and 14 other counts. The civil action also alleges emotional distress.
A lawyer for the center declined comment to CBS News.
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