Bad seed

A North Carolina woman recently won $400,000 in a medical malpractice suit against a fertility clinic because she was inseminated with "garbage sperm" and suffered traumatic uteran contractions. Her winnings were up from an original suit of only $10,000.

"N.C. Woman Wins Mistaken Insemination Case" (CNN, AP, 29 June 2004)

Chambliss, 37, walked into the clinic in August 2002 for her 12th attempt at pregnancy. A nurse practitioner inseminated her with the contents of an unlabeled syringe. The syringe contained unprepared sperm left over from another client's procedure two days before.

"'Sperm mixup' lawsuit trial begins" (WECT 6, Nicole Konkal, 24 June 2004)

"It was the worst day of my life," Chambliss said as she wiped away tears. "They took unwashed, left over, what they call 'garbage sperm', and they shot that into my uterus."

"New Testimony: Botched Insemination Trial" (WWAYTV 3, 24 June 2004)

Kelly's life partner Caroline Chambliss also took the stand to testify. Caroline explained what happened after she helped the nurse practitioner inject the semen into Kelly during the botched procedure in 2002. "Immediately...she grabbed her abdomen and said something's gone wrong," Caroline recalled for jurors. "She doubled over in pain...she couldn't control her bowel movements...she began vomiting."