A woman has unknowingly given birth to a stranger’s baby after a horrifying mix-up at one of Australia’s leading IVF clinics.
The anonymous mother was mistakenly implanted with another couple’s embryo due to ‘human error’ at a Monash IVF clinic in Brisbane.
While details of the case are only just emerging, it is believed the baby was born last year.
But the shocking blunder was only discovered in February after the birth parents requested that their remaining embryos be transferred to another IVF provider.
Here the clinic discovered an additional embryo remained in storage and the parents were notified of the mistake within a week.
The Melbourne-based fertility firm has issued an apology over the mix-up and said they were ‘confident it is an isolated incident’.
It’s thought to be the first such case in Australia where a baby was born after the wrong embryo was implanted, with both families reportedly considering legal action.
Monash IVF chief executive Michael Knaap said: ‘On behalf of Monash IVF, I want to say how truly sorry I am for what has happened.
The anonymous mother was mistakenly implanted with another couple’s embryo due to ‘human error’ at a Monash IVF clinic in Brisbane
The shocking blunder was only discovered in February after the birth parents requested that their remaining embryos be transferred to another IVF provider
‘All of us at Monash IVF are devastated and we apologise to everyone involved.
‘We have undertaken additional audits and we’re confident that this is an isolated incident.’
The firm also said it adhered to strict laboratory safety measures to safeguard and protect the embryos in its care and that the incident was the result of ‘human error’.
It has also commissioned an independent investigation into the incident and the mistake has been reported to the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee.
Last year, Monash IVF settled a class action with no admission of liability, following claims it used inaccurate genetic testing and destroyed potentially viable embryos.
More than 700 patients across the country were involved in the action which saw the firm agree to pay a A$56 million settlement (£26.8 million).
IVF — or in vitro fertilisation — involves the removal of eggs from a woman’s ovaries, which are then fertilised with sperm in a laboratory.
When the fertilised eggs become embryos, they are inserted into the woman’s uterus.
Monash IVF chief executive Michael Knaap (pictured) said: ‘On behalf of Monash IVF, I want to say how truly sorry I am for what has happened’
Currently, the fertility treatment has a success rate of up to 40 per cent. Around a third of IVF cycles among under-35s resulted in a live birth in 2019 in the UK. Yet this dropped to just 4 per cent in over-44s
IVF is already a delicate process, with success rates rapidly diminishing as women age, from 32 per cent for women under 35, to just four per cent for women over 44.
Significant incidents, like the mishandling of eggs or embryos that significantly compromise a cycle, occur once every 2,156 cycles, according to one 2018 US IVF study, which tracked one laboratory over 12 years.
In the UK, latest Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HEFA) figures for 2023/24 on the number of IVF incidents logged annually show there was one ‘Grade A’ incident reported — the first time since 2020.
This can include when a woman is implanted with the wrong embryo or storage unit malfunctions.
A total of 519 incidents and 62 near misses were recorded.
More than 200 of these were classed as ‘Grade B’ – ‘serious harm to one person’ or ‘moderate harm to many’.
Such incidents include the loss of embryos for one patient or confidentiality breaches.
Last year, experts warned that two heartbreaking egg-freezing scandals in the UK that might have robbed women of ever becoming biological mothers proved how vulnerable fertility procedures are to error.
Bosses were accused of a ‘cover up’ at Homerton Fertility Centre in London after it was forced to close over fears dozens of embryos were unexpectedly destroyed.
Documents reportedly show the facility and IVF regulator were aware some embryos weren’t surviving the freezing process as expected last June. Yet the site continued to operate as usual until March 8.
At least 153 embryos, representing the hopes of 45 patients, were feared to have been destroyed.
Among those affected were cancer patients who froze embryos before undergoing treatment that could make them infertile.
Another London fertility centre, at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Trust, also admitted the eggs and embryos of 136 of its patients may never be viable after it used a faulty solution during the freezing process.
