Article published September 26, 2009
Sylvania Township mom who received wrong embryo gives birth to a boy
Baby delivered at Mercy St. Vincent
Carolyn and Sean Savage learned in February that Carolyn was carrying the child of a couple who live in Sterling Heights, Mich.
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THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH
)
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By JANET ROMAKER
and TOM TROY
BLADE STAFF WRITERS
The wait is over.
Carolyn Savage - the Sylvania Township mother who received national attention this week after announcing she received another couple's embryos at a fertility clinic - has given birth to the baby.
Mrs. Savage had the healthy baby boy at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo on Thursday, according to a statement released Friday night by her family.
She and her husband, Sean, have said they learned in February that she was carrying the child of Shannon and Paul Morell, who live in Sterling Heights, Mich. The error occurred at a fertility clinic they shared.
The Savages said they planned to give the baby to the Morells after he was born, and the two couples had been in contact for months discussing plans for his arrival.
Last night, the Savages released a statement offering "heartfelt congratulations to the Morell family on the birth of their son.""We wish Paul, Shannon, their twin girls, and their new baby boy the best, as they move forward with their lives together," the statement read.
"Our family is deeply grateful for the support and prayers of so many people from around the world. We also would like to thank the medical professionals who provided superior care and treatment throughout the pregnancy and delivery. Our family is going through a very difficult time and requests privacy in the days ahead."
Neither couple has identified the fertility clinic where the embryo error occurred, other than to say it wasn't an Ohio clinic.
Paul Manion, a Detroit lawyer retained by the unidentified clinic, said yesterday an "unfortunate laboratory mistake" was made and when it was discovered, the families involved were notified immediately.
"We continue to work with the families and their attorneys, Brian McKeen and Richard L. Norton, to find an acceptable resolution. This has never happened to this practice before and they are working day and night so it will never happen again," Mr. Manion's statement said.
Attorney Richard Norton of Cincinnati, who represents the Morells, said yesterday the parties are trying to reach a settlement without litigation.
Mr. McKeen could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Savage has suggested that names may have been more than a coincidence in how his wife was implanted with the wrong embryos.
Mrs. Savage and Shannon Morell share the same name of Savage. It is Mrs. Morell's maiden name and her Michigan voting records list her as Shannon Savage-Morell.
Carolyn Savage had declined this week to disclose the name of the hospital where the baby would be born.
The location was being kept secret in part because the Morells were concerned about a "potential media debacle," the 40-year-old Mrs. Savage said in an interview with The Blade at her home earlier this week.
"When a baby's born, you want a private moment," she said.
As a stream of local, national, and international media were lining up for interviews with the Sylvania Township couple at midweek, Mrs. Savage stayed close to her blood-pressure cuff, watching for any indications of medical issues.
She said then it wouldn't surprise her if she delivered sometime in the next week.
The earliest that Toledo hospitals will schedule C-sections is at 39 weeks into the pregnancy, she said, and her C-section was scheduled for Oct. 19, but she said it seemed highly unrealistic she would deliver then. The mother of two sons and a daughter, she said she doesn't carry babies to full term.
"I don't think I will make it a whole lot further," she said late Wednesday afternoon, shortly after talking to her mother about making some macaroni and cheese for the Savages' 18-month-old daughter Mary Kate.
She said she hadn't had any pregnancy issues other than blood-pressure concerns, and she was working to "rest out" her elevated blood pressure.
Late Monday night this week, the Savages were at a hospital for what turned out to be a "false alarm."
Just before midnight, they kept eyes on the clock. Tuesday "was our son's 15th birthday," Mr. Savage said in an interview Wednesday. There was a lot of anxiety associated with potentially having Sept. 22 as the Morells' son's birth date, said Mr. Savage who commented that he was glad they got past that date.
Mrs. Savage, on the eve of her 36th week of pregnancy, said on Wednesday she was concerned about the possibility of delivering a premature baby, noting that she had a "tremendous goal to spare this child" an experience in an intensive-care unit.
When another child is under your custody for whatever reason, such as for a play date, it is the same feeling as this, she said. "You're just afforded almost a hyper-vigilance of care and I would feel absolutely terrible if … I can't even imagine if something went wrong."
Mrs. Savage said she had been mentally framing the delivery and the reunion of the Morells with their baby, and then her leaving the hospital empty-handed.
But she was framing it as positively as she could, considering the baby as a gift to the Morells and reflecting on the gifts the Savages have with their three children and other blessings in their lives.
Mr. Savage said that after the baby was born, his family would continue to be involved in their everyday activities, such as fall sports for their sons Andrew and Ryan.
A financial adviser, Mr. Savage is a cross-country coach for St. Joseph School in Sylvania.
The decision was swift to give the baby to the biological parents, Mr. Savage said earlier this week.
"We received a strong legal opinion almost immediately. We consulted Mary Smith, who's a family law attorney. Mary did research and she's part of a national organization of other attorneys in this field and through her research, which she really did immediately, she let us know that the biology, the DNA was going to rule the day on this situation," he said.
Genetics win out in court cases, he said.
"They talk about the intended parents. When they created those embryos, they were the intended parents and just because of a medical clinic doing what they did doesn't change that.
"So that strong legal opinion in conjunction with us trying to reverse roles and say if we were in the other person's shoes, how would we feel, and just drew that conclusion pretty quickly."
Contact Janet Romaker at:
jromaker@theblade.com
or 419-724-6006.
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