IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS

LAW DIVISION
JENNIFER L. CRAMBLETT
13543 Hill Avenue, N.W.
Uniontown, Ohio 44685,
Plaintiff,
vs.
MIDWEST SPERM BANK, LLC
c/o Scott J. Bakal, Statutory Agent
2 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 2200
Chicago, Illinois 60602,
Defendant.
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(Jury demand endorsed hereon)
COMPLAINT AT LAW
Plaintiff, Jennifer L. Cramblett, for her Complaint for Wrongful Birth and Breach of
Warranty against Defendant, Midwest Sperm Bank, LLC, states and alleges as follows.
1. This civil action for wrongful birth and breach of warranty arises from the
defendant's delivery of sperm from the wrong donor to an Ohio fertility clinic with which the
plaintiff was artificially inseminated.
PARTIES, JURISDICTION AND VENUE
2. This court has subject matter jurisdiction of this action pursuant to Article VI,
Section 9, ofthe Illinois Constitution.
3. This court has in personam jurisdiction over the defendant, because it is an
Illinois limited liability company with its principal office in Chicago, Illinois.
4. Venue is proper in this court pursuant to Sections 2-101 and 2-102(c) ofthe
Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, 735 ILCS 5/2-101, 2-102(c), because the defendant has an
office in this county, or an officer ofthe defendant resides in this county.
5. Plaintiff, Jennifer L. Cramblett, is a citizen and resident of Uniontown, Ohio.
6. Defendant, Midwest Sperm Bank, LLC, is an Illinois limited liability
company with its principal office in Chicago, Illinois.
FACTS COMMON TO ALL CLAIMS
7. Jennifer Cramblett, 36, is a lesbian residing in Uniontown, Ohio (population
2,802 in rural Stark County), with her domestic partner, Amanda Zinkon, and her two year-
old daughter, Payton. Ms. Cramblett was raised in Scio, Ohio (population 762 in Harrison
County), graduating from Harrison Central High School in 1996. After high school, Jennifer
earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Akron. She is the assistant manager of an
AT&T retail store in Canton, Ohio. Jennifer and Amanda have been together for
approximately four years.
8. In or about June, 2011, Jennifer and Amanda decided to start a family.
Because Jennifer was older and had better health insurance, the two decided that Jennifer
would be the first to become pregnant. From their perspective, artificial insemination was
the only option. Both Jennifer and Amanda were sexually abused as young girls, Jennifer at
age 8 by a neighborhood boy who was 17. As Jennifer explained to psychologist, Donald J.
Weinstein, Ph.D., of Beachwood, Ohio, in November, 2012, "We would have to bring a male
into our lives and when you think of sperm, you think of sexual encounters and neither of us
wanted to think of males in our lives that way again."
9. In or about late July, 2011, Jennifer and Amanda met with Nicholas J. Spirtos,
D.O., of the Northeast Ohio Fertility Clinic in Canton. During that initial visit, Dr. Spirtos
recommended the defendant, Midwest Sperm Bank, for donor sperm. Jennifer and Amanda
spent the next week researching the defendant's donor profiles. Their desire was to find a
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donor with genetic traits similar to both of them. The plan was that, at a subsequent time,
Amanda would become inseminated with sperm from the same donor so that their children
would be blood-related. After making their top three choices, a Midwest Sperm Bank
employee emailed Jennifer comprehensive histories, twenty-three pages in length, for each
donor. After reviewing those histories, Jennifer and Amanda made their choice, Donor No.
380.
1 0. In August, 2011, Jennifer contacted the defendant and paid for two vials of
Donor No. 380's sperm. On two consecutive days in the middle of the month, when she was
ovulating, Jennifer was artificially inseminated at Dr. Spirtos' office. Because she did not
get pregnant in August, and because pregnancy can often take a few months to occur,
Jennifer ordered six vials of sperm in September, 2011. Jennifer placed her order by
telephone. During that conversation, Defendant's receptionist asked Jennifer to verifY that
she was ordering six vials of sperm from Donor No. 330. Jennifer corrected the receptionist,
pointing out that she was ordering sperm from Donor No. 380. After a brief hesitation, the
receptionist said, "Oh yes, I see you need No. 380."
11. Jennifer did not get pregnant in September or October, 2011, and she skipped
November, because she missed her ovulation period. In September and October, she used
two vials of sperm on two consecutive days just as she had done in August. In December,
2011, because of the holiday season, she used just one vial of sperm. Had she not gotten
pregnant in December, she would have used the last vial in January, 2012; however, on
December 24, 2011, Jennifer learned that she was pregnant.
12. The pregnancy progressed normally, and on April 9, 2012, Jennifer and
Amanda learned that they were having a girl.
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13. On April23, 2012, Jennifer called the defendant fro111 work to order eight
more vials ofDonorNo. 380's sperm, because she and Amanda were still planning to have
another child, they had saved enough money, and because they had heard that their donor had
moved and was no longer donating.
14. When Jennifer called the defendant to order additional sperm, she spoke to the
same receptionist as before. The receptionist remembered Jennifer from the previous
September. The receptionist asked Jennifer to hold while her file was retrieved. When she
returned, the receptionist said, "Okay, you want eight vials of sperm from Donor No. 330."
Jennifer replied, "No, I said we need eight vials of No. 380." Jennifer was put on hold again
for what seemed to her like an eternity.
15. When the receptionist returned for the second time, she asked Jennifer if she
had requested an African American donor to which she replied, "No, why would I request
that? My partner and I are Caucasian. You know that from our profiles." She was placed on
hold again. Finally, she was told that Dr. Spirtos had been sent vials of sperm from Donor
No. 330, and that Midwest Sperm Bank would have to "call to confirm." Jennifer hung up
immediately and called Dr. Spirtos.
16. Dr. Spirtos' secretary, Sandra, answered Jennifer's call. She could hear the
concern in Jennifer's voice. Jennifer asked Sandra to check the remaining vial, the one
Jennifer planned to use in January, 2012, to determine whether or not it was from Donor No.
380. After checking the vial, Sandra informed Jennifer that she had become pregnant on
December 11,2011, by Donor No. 330.
17. About an hour later, Dr. Spirtos called Jennifer to confirm the mistake, to
apologize, and to ask how she was doing. Jennifer was crying, confused and upset. All of
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the thought, care and planning that she and Amanda had undertaken to control their baby's
parentage had been rendered meaningless. In an instant, Jennifer's excitement and
anticipation of her pregnancy was replaced with anger, disappointment and fear.
18. After calming down a bit, Jennifer called Midwest Sperm Bank again. No one
from Midwest had called her back, and she wanted to speak to someone before the end of the
business day. The receptionist asked Jennifer if she had spoken with Dr. Spirtos. Jennifer
said that she had. The receptionist then asked if Dr. Spirtos' office had confirmed receipt of
sperm from Donor No. 330 to which Jennifer responded affirmatively. At that moment, the
receptionist said, "I am sorry, but I am unable to speak to you about this matter anymore"
and hung up.
19. Jennifer is not easily overcome by emotion, but when the receptionist hung up
on her so rudely and insensitively, she began to cry uncontrollably. She began to shake and
she could not breathe. She could not speak or think straight. Her hands and feet became
numb. Jennifer's co-workers tried to calm her down to no avail.
20. Jennifer called her mother who knew instantly that something was wrong.
She drove more than an hour to pick Jennifer up from work and take her home. The
remainder of that day and night, and throughout the following day, Jennifer cried, depressed
and angry. The following month, Jennifer received a letter from Midwest Sperm Bank
apologizing for the "mix up." Enclosed with the letter was a refund check, but only for the
six vials of incorrect sperm sent in September, 2011. Midwest kept the money Jennifer sent
in August.
21. In the months that followed, Jennifer learned the reason for the defendant's
error: its records are not electronic. They are kept in pen and ink. To the person who sent
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Jennifer vials of sperm in September, 2011, the number "380" looked like "330," and there
are no redundancies to catch errors like the one the defendant made with respect to Jennifer
Cramblett.
22. On August 21, 2012, Jennifer gave birth to Payton, a beautiful, obviously
mixed race, baby girl. 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 admits that she was raised around stereotypical attitudes
about people other than those in her all-white environment. Family members, one uncle in
particular, speaks openly and derisively about persons of color. She did not know African
Americans until her college days at the University of Akron.
23. Because ofthis background and upbringing, Jennifer acknowledges her
limited cultural competency re}ative to A:frican Americans, and steep learning curve,
particularly in small, homogeneous, Uniontown, which she regards as too racially intolerant.
24. As just one example, getting a young daughter's hair cut is not particularly
stressful for most mothers, but to Jennifer it is not a routine matter, because Payton has hair
typical of an African American girl. To get a decent cut, Jennifer must travel to a black
neighborhood, far from where she lives, where she is obviously different in appearance, and
not overtly welcome.
25. One of Jennifer's biggest fears is the life experiences Payton will undergo, not
only in her all-white community, but in her all-white, and often unconsciously insensitive,
family. Despite her family's attempts to accept her homosexuality, they have not been
capable of truly embracing Jennifer for who she is. They do not converse with her about her
gender preference, and encourage her not to "look different," signaling their disapproval of
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her lesbianism. Though compelled to repress her individuality amongst family members,
Payton's differences are irrepressible, and Jenniferdoes not want Payton to feel stigmatized
or unrecognized due simply to the circumstances of her birth.
26. Jennifer's stress and anxiety intensifY when she envisions Payton entering an
all-white school. Ironically, Jennifer and Amanda moved to Uniontown from racially diverse
Akron, because the schools were better and to be closer to family. Jennifer is well aware of
the child psychology research and literature correlating intolerance and racism with reduced
academic and psychological well-being of biracial children.
27. Based upon the aforementioned facts and circumstances, all of Jennifer's
therapists and experts agree that for her psychological and parental well-being, she must
relocate to a racially diverse community with good schools.
FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(Wrongful Birth)
28. Plaintiff, Jennifer Cramblett, incorporates by reference the allegations in
Paragraphs I through 27 above as if fully rewritten herein.
29. Defendant had a legal duty to comply with professional standards of care, and
to exercise due care, in providing donor sperm to Jennifer Cramblett.
30. Defendant breached its legal duties to Jennifer Cramblett by failing to exercise
the degree of skill, care and diligence of an ordinary and reasonable sperm bank, thereby
causing Jennifer Cramblett to be artificially inseminated with sperm from the wrong donor.
31. As a direct and proximate result of Defendant's breaches of duty, Jennifer
Cramblett has suffered personal injuries, medical expense, pain, suffering, emotional distress,
and other economic and non-economic losses, and will do so in the future.
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32. As a direct and proximate result of Defendant's negligence, Plaintiff has been
damaged in an amount to be determined at trial, which amount exceeds $50,000.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, Jennifer Cramblett demands judgment against Defendant,
Midwest Sperm Bank, LLC, for compensatory damages in an amount exceeding fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000) and to be proven at trial, the costs of this action, and such other
and further relief as justice and the law so require.
SECOND CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(Breach of Warranty- 745 ILCS 40/3)
33. Plaintiff, Jennifer Cramblett, incorporates by reference the allegations in
Paragraphs I through 32 above as if fully rewritten herein.
34. In accordance with 745 ILCS 40/3, Defendant warranted to Jennifer
Cramblett that it would exercise due care, and follow professional standards of care, in
providing her with donor sperm.
35. Defendant breached its warranty to Jennifer Cramblett by failing to exercise
due care, and by failing to follow the professional standards applicable to sperm banks,
thereby causing Ms. Cramblett to be artificially inseminated with sperm from the wrong
donor.
36. As a direct and proximate result of Defendant's breaches of warranty, Jennifer
Cramblett has suffered personal injuries, medical expense, pain, suffering, emotional distress,
and other economic and non-economic losses, and will do so in the future.
3 7. As a direct and proximate result of Defendant's breaches of warranty, Plaintiff
has been damaged in an amount to be determined at trial, which amount exceeds $50,000.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, Jennifer Cramblett demands judgment against Defendant,
Midwest Sperm Bank, LLC, for compensatory damages in an amount exceeding fifty
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thousand dollars ($50,000) and to be proven at trial, the costs of this action, and such other
and further relief as justice and the law so require.
Of counsel for Plaintiff: Respectfully submitted,

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INTiu & GROVES CO., L.P.A. Jovan R.
130 West Second Street, Suite 310 OSTOJIC & SCUDDER
Dayton, Ohio 45402-1534 332 S. Michigan A venue, Suite 1000
(937) 226-1770; Fax: (937) 281-1562 Chicago, Illinois 60604-4408
Email: [email protected] Tel: (312) 913-0860
[email protected] Fax: (312) 913-0868
A+lvrN<J '-leo
Timothy P. Misny (OH Reg. No. 0000514) Attorney for Plaintiff
Attorney at Law
9327 Chillicothe Rd.
Kirtland, Ohio 44094
Tel: (440) 256-1395
Fax: (440) 256-1614
Email: [email protected]
JURY DEMAND
Plaintiff, Jennifer L. Cramblett, demands a trial by jury comprised of the maximum
number of jurors permissible by law.
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IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS , ,
JENNIFER L. CRAMBLETT
13543 Hill Avenue, N.W.
Uniontown, Ohio 44685,
Plaintiff,
vs.
LAW DIVISION ;;;
Case No:

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MIDWEST SPERM BANK, LLC
c/o Scott 1. Bakal, Statutory Agent
2 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 2200
Chicago, Illinois 60602,
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COMPLAINT FOR WRONGFUL
BIRTH AND BREACH OF
WARRANTY
(Jury demand endorsed hereon)
Defendant.
SUPREME COURT RULE 222 AFFIDAVIT
John Ostojic, pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 222 (B) certifies as follows:
I. I am an attorney licensed to practice in the State of Illinois.
2. I am one of the attorneys representing the plaintiff, relative to the above-captioned
lawsuit.
3. I am familiar with the facts pertaining to the lawsuit, and the matters alleged
therein, and the plaintiffhas a claim in excess of$50,000.00.
4. I value the claim ofthe plaintiffto be in excess of$50,000.00.
5. Pursuant to Section 1-109 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, the undersigned
certifies that the above statements set forth in this affidavit are true and correct.
FURTHER AFFIANT SA YETH NAUGHT.
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
LAW DIVISION
JENNIFER L. CRAMBLETT
13543 Hill Avenue, N.W.
Uniontown, Ohio 44685,
Plaintiff,
vs.
MIDWEST SPERM BANK, LLC
c/o Scott J. Bakal, Statutory Agent
2 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 2200
Chicago, Illinois 60602,
Defendant.
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COMPLAINT FOR WRONGFUL
BIRTH AND BREACH OF
WARRANTY
(Jury demand endorsed hereon)
735 ILCS 2-622(a)(2) AFFIDAVIT
John Ostojic, pursuant to 735 ILCS 2-622(a)(2) certifies as follows:
I. I am an attorney licensed to practice in the State of Illinois.
2. I am one of the attorneys representing the plaintiff, relative to the above-captioned
lawsuit.
3. The affiant was unable to obtain a consultation required by 735 ILCS 2-622(a)(l)
because a statute of limitations would impair the action and the consultation required
could not be obtained before the expiration of the statute of limitations. The affiant is
arranging for such a consultation and will provide the requisite affidavit within ninety
(90) days.
4. Pursuant to Section 1-109 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, the undersigned
certifies that the above statements set forth in this affidavit are true and correct
FURTHER AFFIANT SA YETH NAUGHT.