Lesbian Mother Sues Sperm Bank Over Mixed Race Baby, Says Her Family Is Racist

A white lesbian mother is not happy with a sperm bank that mistakenly sent her the sperm of a black man.

Jennifer Cramblett decided to sue the Midwest Sperm Bank after giving birth to a mixed race child. Cramblett is claiming that the little girl’s race has caused her hardships that she wouldn’t be facing if she’d given birth to a white child.

Cramblett filed her lawsuit in the Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois. According to the Chicago Tribune, Cramblett claims that she and her partner, Amanda Zinkon, made sure to choose a sperm donor who was white. However, the Midwest Sperm Bank delivered the wrong vials of sperm to the couple’s doctor in Ohio due to an error involving donor numbers. Cramblett didn’t find out about the mistake until she was already pregnant and now she’s suing the sperm bank “for wrongful birth and breach of warranty, citing the emotional and economic losses she has suffered.”

Jennifer Cramblett and Amanda Zinkon reside in Uniontown, Ohio. It’s a small town, and Cramblett’s lawsuit states that it’s an all-white community. She and her partner fear that their daughter might not be accepted in the community, and Cramblett admits that many of her own family members are racists who won’t treat her daughter fairly. According to The Daily Mail, Cramblett revealed that she even has one uncle who “openly makes racist comments.”

It also sounds like Cramblett herself isn’t completely comfortable being around people of another race — she made it a point to note that she never met a black person until she attended college at the University of Akron. However, in the lawsuit, Cramblett tries to make it clear that she doesn’t love her daughter Payton any less because she’s mixed race.

“Jennifer bonded with Payton easily and she and Amanda love her very much. Even so, Jennifer lives each day with fears, anxieties and uncertainty about her future and Payton’s future.”

Jennifer Cramblett’s concerns include a fear that Payton won’t be accepted once she starts attending an all-white school. She also claims that Payton’s mixed race hair has become a burden. Cramblett complains that she had to take Payton to a “black neighborhood” to get her hair cut, and the mother felt that she stuck out because she was “obviously different in appearance.” She also claims that she was “not overtly welcome” in the salon where Payton got her hair cut. A therapist has advised Cramblett and her family to move to a more diverse community.

According to the New York Daily News, Cramblett is seeking $50,000 from Midwest Sperm Bank in what is described as a “wrongful birth and breach of warranty.”

Above the Law writer Elie Mystal explained why some parents of color might not be very sympathetic toward Cramblett’s plight.

“This woman is suing people because she’s being forced to live the life of every black parent in this country. This woman couldn’t last two years in the shoes that millions of African-Americans walk every day before crying uncle. A suit like this illustrates how completely freaking clueless some white people are about what it’s like to be black in America…in essence, Cramblett isn’t suing because the sperm bank gave her the wrong sperm. She’s not even suing because she doesn’t like black babies. Cramblett is suing because the sperm bank turned her into a black person. They made her have to think and worry and stress like any other parent of a non-white child.”

What do you think of Cramblett’s decision to sue the sperm bank?

[Images via CBS News, NHS]