Woman gives birth to another couple’s child after IVF mix-up－淮鹽荔枝米俐

Monash IVF has not named the couples involved, nor has it responded to questions about when the baby was born, or who has custody of the child. Science Photo Library/ZEPHYR/Brand X/Getty Images

Brisbane, Australia

CNN

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A major Australian IVF clinic has apologized for giving the wrong embryo to a woman who then gave birth to another couple’s baby, blaming the mix-up on “human error.”

Monash IVF, which operates more than 100 clinics across Australia, said in a statement staff were “devastated” by the mistake, believed to be the first of its kind in Australia.

It’s not clear whether either of the couples suspected a mix-up before the clinic discovered the error in February.

“On behalf of Monash IVF, I want to say how truly sorry I am for what has happened,” said CEO Michael Knaap in the statement.

“We will continue to support the patients through this extremely distressing time,” he added.

Monash IVF has not named the couples involved, nor has it responded to questions about when the baby was born, or who has custody of the child, out of respect for the couples’ privacy.

The error occurred at Monash IVF’s Brisbane clinic, in the state of Queensland, where the law recognizes the birth mother and her partner as the child’s legal parents.

Alex Polyakov, a clinical associate professor at the University of Melbourne and a fertility consultant at Melbourne’s Royal Women’s Hospital, said it was the first incident of its kind in four decades of IVF in Australia.

“Australia’s regulatory framework for assisted reproductive technology is internationally recognized for its stringency and thoroughness,” he said in written comments.

“The probability of such an event occurring is so low that it defies statistical quantification.”

How did it happen?

The mistake was discovered in February after the birth parents requested to transfer their remaining embryos to another IVF provider.

After an extra embryo was found in their storage compartment, an internal inquiry discovered they’d received the wrong embryo.

It’s not clear how the error was made but according to the Monash IVF statement, another patient’s embryo was “incorrectly thawed and transferred to the birth parents.”

Knaap, the company’s CEO, said he was confident it was “an isolated incident.”

“We are reinforcing all our safeguards across our clinics – we also commissioned an independent investigation and are committed to implementing its recommendations in full,” he added.