A woman in Australia has unknowingly given birth to a stranger’s baby after a fertility clinic accidentally implanted the wrong embryos into her. The shocking mix-up occurred at Monash IVF in Brisbane, Queensland, and has been attributed to human error, according to Australian media reports.
Michael Knaap, the CEO of Monash IVF, publicly apologized for the mistake, expressing deep regret on behalf of the clinic.
“On behalf of Monash IVF, I want to say how truly sorry I am for what has happened,” Knaap said. “Everyone at the clinic is devastated by this error.”
This incident follows a prior controversy in which the same clinic paid a settlement of A$56 million (£26.8 million) to hundreds of patients whose viable embryos were mistakenly destroyed.
The issue was first discovered in February when the birth parents requested to transfer their remaining frozen embryos to a different clinic. A spokesperson for Monash IVF explained that the transfer revealed an anomaly.
“Instead of finding the expected number of embryos, an additional embryo remained in storage,” the spokesperson told ABC.
It was then confirmed that an embryo from another patient had been mistakenly thawed and implanted into the wrong person, leading to the birth of a child.
The clinic has launched an internal investigation, and the incident has been reported to relevant regulatory bodies. Knaap assured the public that this appeared to be an isolated incident.
In another controversial case last year, Monash IVF reached a settlement of A$56 million in a class action involving 700 former patients. This case stemmed from inaccurate genetic testing that led to the destruction of embryos that were, in fact, viable. The lawsuit revealed that about 35% of embryos that were considered abnormal by faulty screening were actually normal and could have resulted in a successful pregnancy.
In vitro fertilization (IVF), the process at the heart of these incidents, involves extracting eggs from a woman’s ovaries and fertilizing them with sperm in a lab. Once the eggs become embryos, they are implanted into the woman’s uterus. IVF is an expensive and often emotionally taxing procedure, with no guarantee of success.
In 2021, there were 20,690 babies born as a result of IVF in Australia and New Zealand, according to a report by the University of New South Wales.
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Written By Elegbe Theodore