Florida
Lawsuit claims Florida doctor used ‘mentally ill’ woman as surrogate
A Florida doctor entangled in an embryo mixup lawsuit is being sued by another patient claiming he used a “severely mentally ill” woman as a surrogate.
Dr. Milton McNichol, along with Fertility Center of Orlando, IVF Life, IVF Orlando, are named in the new lawsuit filed in March in Seminole County. It alleges a woman in her early 20s was used as surrogate for her cousin and her cousin’s partner, despite the woman’s long-documented history of severe psychiatric illnesses, including Baker Act admissions and experiencing psychiatric instability at the time of the IVF procedure.
The unnamed woman’s attorney, Andrew Rader, said his client was in no condition to be a surrogate and could not meaningfully consent to it.
“This case reflects a profound failure to protect a woman who should never have been approved for surrogacy,” Rader told USA Today Network. “Our complaint details how family members manipulated and coerced a young woman with serious psychiatric illness into a surrogate arrangement she was in no condition to understand, while the fertility clinic and treating physician failed to carry out the most basic psychological screening and safeguards that could have protected her.”
What happened to baby surrogate carried?
The embryo transferred into the surrogate had a fatal genetic disorder, thanatophoric dysplasia, according to the lawsuit.
There were serious complications during the pregnancy, which Rader said resulted in profound trauma to his client. The baby died about 10 days after birth, causing the surrogate “devastating emotional harm.”
“She believed that the baby was biologically hers, and was further distraught when the baby’s remains were immediately taken out of the country,” Rader said. “The surrogate who is not mentally, emotionally or psychologically well is still seeking her son who passed away. She is fixated on finding her son.”
What are the regulations, guidelines when using a surrogate for IVF?
While there are no regulations set for using a surrogate, there are guidelines set forth by various reproduction and in vitro fertilization groups.
Proper psychological screenings are one of the guidelines. The lawsuit alleges the intended parents knew the surrogate was psychologically unfit and exploited both her impaired judgment and financial distress.
The intended parents do not have attorneys representing them yet, and attempts to reach them were unsuccessful.
Calls were left with attorneys who have represented McNichol, Fertility Center of Orlando, IVF Life, IVF Orlando in previous cases.
Rader said it has not been determined what monetary amount his client is seeking.
“We want to increase awareness on the lack of regulation in this industry,” he said. “If these cases push toward better regulation, more transparency, more mandatory guidelines, it would really be great.”
What is the embryo mixup lawsuit McNichol is involved in?
McNichol, the doctor who runs IVF Life, is being sued by a couple after the woman gave birth in December 2025 and it was determined the baby was not genetically related to her or her partner.
It’s believed the embryo mix-up happened six years ago when Tiffany Score had her eggs removed and joined with Steven Mills’ sperm through in vitro fertilization and resulted in embryos that were later frozen. Attempts are being made to determine the biological parents of the baby, and to determined what happened to Score and Mills’ remaining embryos.
In a recent court hearing, it was revealed that McNichol is selling his clinic as of May 1. The new owners have not been revealed.
Michelle Spitzer is a journalist for The USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA. As the network’s Rapid Response reporter, she covers Florida’s breaking news. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://floridatoday.com/newsletters.
Florida
FBI asking for help locating missing truck driver after suspected car hauler hijacking in Florida
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – The FBI is investigating the suspicious disappearance of truck driver Alejandro Jacomino Gonzalez and is asking for the public’s assistance in locating him.
On April 16, investigators say Gonzalez picked up multiple vehicles from the Port of Brunswick, in Georgia. He departed the Brunswick port headed South for Miami, Florida, the drop off location for the vehicles.
Timeline of disappearance
At approximately 1:21 a.m., the FBI says Gonzalez arrived at a truck stop in Brevard County, Florida, where he rested for several hours. At 7:49 a.m., GPS from the truck driven by Gonzalez indicates the truck drove South one exit and then turned North towards Jacksonville. Soon after, Gonzalez became unreachable and the truck was reported missing.
On April 17, the truck was located in Port Wentworth, Georgia, however Gonzalez was not located in the truck. Additionally, several vehicles were missing from the hauler. Since the discovery of the truck, three vehicles have been located in Florida. Others are still missing, along with Gonzalez.
The FBI is seeking photos and video footage from any people located in or around the Brevard County Rest Area in Grant-Valkaria, Florida, between the hours of 1 a.m. and 8 a.m., on Friday, April 17, specifically focusing on the southern portion of the rest area near the ramp that enters back onto I-95 South.
The public is encouraged to share those photos and videos here.
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.
Wildlife researchers have found an unconventional way to help control invasive Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades – by using one of the snakes’ favorite prey.
Opossums are a key food source for Burmese pythons, which are top predators in the Everglades and have established a permanent breeding population in South Florida, severely harming the ecosystem by wiping out native animals, according to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
In 2022, researchers discovered the new technique accidentally while studying the movements and behaviors of small mammals. The team had fitted GPS collars to opossums and raccoons on Florida’s southern coast and discovered an added side effect: They could also track the enormous snakes after they swallowed the tagged animals whole, LiveScience reported.
“We need everything that we can find to remove as many pythons as possible,” Michael Cove, one of the researchers and curator of mammals at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, told The South Florida Sun-Sentinel in 2023.
With that in mind, Cove, A.J. Sanjar and other researchers expanded the effort to track and euthanize invasive pythons as part of Florida’s conservation work. Here’s how they do it.
How the GPS-collared opossums are tracked
Researchers hope to have at least 40 GPS-collared opossums in their conservation program by later this summer. It’s almost a given that some of these furry creatures will meet their doom in the coils of an invasive python diet in the food chain, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.
Although the use of live prey as bait has drawn criticism, the scientists insist that they are researching natural behavior and that the collars do not limit the mammals’ range or raise their risk, but rather use predatory patterns as a means of detection.
“We’re not putting these animals out there and in harm’s way,” Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge manager Jeremy Dixon told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on April 19. “Harm’s way is there. We’re just documenting what’s happening.”
Where Burmese pythons have been reported in Florida
Burmese pythons in the Sunshine State have reduced the population of raccoons by 99%, opossums by 98% and bobcats by 88%, causing a massive ecological collapse in Florida’s Everglades.
A U.S. Geological Survey report shows that Burmese pythons are expanding their range so quickly that it can be marked in miles per year in some areas.
Here’s where they’re most prevalent in Florida:
About the invasive Burmese python
Originally from Southeast Asia, the Burmese python has been introduced to South Florida either through accidental escape or intentional release of captive animals.
In 1979, the first observation of a Burmese python in the wild in South Florida was recorded in Everglades National Park. The heaviest python ever caught in Florida was an 18-foot, 215-pound snake. It was caught by a biologist with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida in Naples in 2022.
How big do pythons get?
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission keeps track of the length and weight of Burmese pythons after sightings are reported. The longest Burmese python ever captured in Florida, in July 2023, measured more than 19 feet.
Since their arrival in Florida, the snakes have brought harmful, non-native parasites and reduced medium-sized mammal numbers by more than 90%, changing the ecosystem, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Source: North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Popular Science, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Naples Daily News and USA TODAY research
Disease and cold temperatures killed nearly 30 sloths at a Florida animal import warehouse in 2024 and 2025, according to a report from state wildlife authorities.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation inspection report from August found that 21 sloths imported from Guyana died at an Orlando facility called Sanctuary World Imports in December 2024 when temperatures dropped into the 40-to-55 degree Fahrenheit (4.4 to 12.8 degrees Celsius) range.
Sloths are unable to regulate their body temperature as well as other mammals and do best in the 68-to-85 degree Fahrenheit (20 to 30 degrees Celsius) range, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Peter Bandre, listed as the facility licensee in the report, said that the animals died of what he called a “cold stun.” The building had no water and no electricity and wasn’t ready to receive the animals, he said, but it was too late to cancel the shipment. The facility purchased space heaters but the heaters tripped a fuse and shut down, leaving the sloths alone without heat for at least one night.
The facility later ordered 10 sloths from Peru, which arrived in February 2025. Two were dead on arrival. The rest appeared emaciated and died of what the report termed “poor health issues.” Bandre said that he planned to interview for a new veterinarian, the facility’s third, according to the state report.
Bandre did not immediately return a message The Associated Press left at a number listed for Sanctuary World Imports on the August report.
According to reports detailing follow-up state inspections in March 2026, Sanctuary World President Benjamin Agresta said he had changed the name to Sloth World Inc. and that Bandre was no longer affiliated with the business. A voicemail and text that the AP left Sunday at the number listed in the March reports for Sloth World Inc. were not immediately returned.
Inspectors reported the March inspections at the facility where the sloths from Guyana died revealed independent heat and air conditioning with a temperature constantly set at 82 degrees Fahrenheit (27.8 degrees Celsisus). They did not observe any issues with the sloths the facility was holding.
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