Joshua and Natalie Strong filed suit in Duval County Circuit Court against Brown Fertility, its founder and medical director Dr. Samuel E. Brown, and ten other unnamed defendants, accusing the clinic of using the wrong man's sperm to create the embryo that became their daughter. A paternity test has since confirmed that Joshua Strong is not the girl's biological father, the New York Post reported.

The baby girl was born in June 2025. She is now about one year old. The couple's lawsuit lays out a timeline that begins with trust and ends with what they call a betrayal, one that surfaced before the family even left the hospital.

A blood type that could not belong to both parents

Within the first day of the baby's life, routine newborn blood typing returned a result the Strongs say is biologically impossible. Their daughter typed B Positive. Natalie Strong's blood type is O Negative. Joshua Strong's is A Negative.

Basic genetics makes that combination a red flag. A child born to parents with O Negative and A Negative blood cannot carry the B antigen. The Strongs' lawsuit states the mismatch plainly:

"Within the first day of life, routine newborn blood typing produced a result that did not fit. The Strongs' daughter typed Blood Type B Positive. That result is biologically impossible given Natalie's blood type, O Negative, and Joshua's blood type, A Negative."

A subsequent paternity test confirmed what the blood work suggested. Another man, not Joshua Strong, fathered the child.

Joshua Strong underwent surgery to provide sperm the clinic allegedly never used

The lawsuit describes a process that demanded significant physical sacrifice from Joshua Strong. He had previously had a vasectomy, so conceiving through IVF required an invasive surgical sperm retrieval. That procedure produced four vials of sperm, which the couple handed over to Brown Fertility under specific terms: the clinic would use Joshua's sperm to fertilize Natalie's eggs, create embryos, and transfer them to her.

The Strongs paid tens of thousands of dollars for those services. The lawsuit alleges the clinic failed to fulfill the most basic obligation of the arrangement, using the correct sperm.

The filing does not identify the man whose sperm was allegedly used, and it does not describe the mechanism of the mix-up. What it does say is direct. The lawsuit states:

"They trusted Brown Fertility, as well as its founder and owner, Samuel E. Brown, M.D., with the family they hoped to build. That trust was betrayed."

And:

"The Strongs are now raising a daughter whose paternity test confirms that another man, not Joshua, fathered her."

'Sadness and anger in the same day'

Joshua Strong spoke to First Coast News, a Jacksonville television outlet, about the emotional weight of raising a child he loves but did not biologically father. His words were measured but raw.

"It's a daily struggle with the emotional aspect of it because you do have sadness and anger in the same day, you also have joy and love."

That single sentence captures a situation no family should face. The Strongs wanted a child. They went through the medical procedures, paid the bills, followed the rules. They did everything right. The clinic, they allege, did not.

Brown Fertility earned a national "best clinic" designation in 2025

Brown Fertility was named one of "America's Best Fertility Clinics" in 2025. Dr. Samuel E. Brown serves as its medical director, founder, and owner. The lawsuit names him individually alongside the clinic and ten additional defendants who have not been publicly identified.

Neither Dr. Brown nor Brown Fertility has publicly responded to the allegations. No regulatory or criminal investigation related to the incident has been reported.

The lawsuit was filed in Duval County Circuit Court. The specific damages the Strongs are seeking have not been disclosed in available reporting. The identity of the biological father remains unknown publicly, and the status of the three remaining vials of Joshua Strong's sperm, the ones the clinic was entrusted to use, is unclear.

Fertility clinics hold enormous power over families who trust them

IVF is not a casual medical procedure. Couples who pursue it commit their bodies, their savings, and their deepest hopes to a clinic's competence and integrity. The Strongs' case, if their allegations hold, represents a failure at the most fundamental level, the wrong genetic material used to create a human life.

No amount of money makes that right. No "best clinic" award papers over it. A family trusted an institution with something irreplaceable, and the lawsuit says that institution broke the deal in a way that can never be undone.

When the system works, nobody thinks twice about the vials in the lab. When it fails like this, every family walking through a clinic door has reason to ask whether anyone is watching.