One mother is making headlines because she (a white woman) was mistakenly inseminated with a black man’s sperm, and now she’s filed a lawsuit against the sperm bank.
Jennifer Cramblett, of Uniontown, Ohio, was inseminated with what she thought was a white man’s sperm back in 2011. Just a month before her due date, Cramblett had called to order eight more vials that her partner Amanda could use to try to get pregnant with a sibling. That’s when they realized the Midwest Sperm Bank sent the wrong batch.
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Cramblett said that so far all she’s gotten is an apology and a refund for the six vials. But that’s not enough.
"I am happy that I have a healthy child," Cramblett told NBC News. "But I'm not going to let them get away with not being held accountable."
Cramblett’s claims her daughter Payton, now 2 years old, is already experiencing prejudice in Uniontown, where 98 percent of the residence are white.
Cramlett's lawyer told NBC News his client "lives in an all-white community in eastern Ohio. She did not encounter any African-American people until she entered college. Not all her friends and family members are racially sensitive."
Cramlett went on to tell NBC News that they have to travel to a black neighborhood to get their daughter’s hair cut, and she doesn’t want her daughter to feel like she’s an outcast in their town.
The lawsuit doesn’t specify the cost for emotional damages at this point, but her lawyer said she would need enough funds for her family to move out of Uniontown, to a place that’s more culturally diverse with good schools.
I’ve read several versions of this story over and over again and almost every time I’m left scratching my head.
It makes me wonder if they’d care if the donor mistake happened with another white donor.
On one hand, I completely understand her fury. She and her partner spent nearly a year deciding which man to use as a sperm donor. It’s not like they’re deciding what to order for dinner. This is a big deal. If my husband and I couldn't have a baby together and we needed to use a sperm donor, it’s something we’d take very seriously, as I’m sure these women did. Of course you’d expect to get what you selected.
The sperm bank should definitely be held accountable for this situation, regardless if the mistake was with a black man’s sperm or another white man’s sperm. It’s a huge mistake either way.
Now that we got that out of the way, what leaves me utterly shocked about this story is the fact that Uniontown, Ohio, is so open-minded to the idea of a same-sex couple having a daughter together, yet so close-minded not to accepting a biracial little girl. Is it just me or is that extremely odd? The fact that they're using their daughter’s race as a main argument in the headlines makes me wonder if they’d care if the donor mistake happened with another white donor.
Either it’s an extreme exaggeration of the racial divide in that town, or we have a lot longer way to go than I thought.
I lived in Utah several years ago, where the whole state has less than a 3 percent African-American population, yet there are many families who adopt black children and biracial people. Black salons are not on every corner, but many moms learn how to style their daughter’s hair. I now have two biracial children and am lucky to live in a racially diverse place where we see a lot of interracial couples and families.
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I’m not trying to discredit this mother’s story or her pain because if I found myself in her situation I’d be raising Cain, too—but I’m sad that her town can be so open and progressive about two moms being parents yet show prejudice against their sweet little girl.
What do you think of the lawsuit? Would you be angry if this were you?
