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Australian Woman Gives Birth to Another Couple’s Baby After Fertility Clinic Blunder

Published

1 month ago

Apr 11, 2025.

Australian Woman Gives Birth to Another Couple’s Baby

Australian Woman Gives Birth to Another Couple’s Baby After Fertility Clinic Blunder.
Monash IVF admits mistake, launches internal investigation.
Clinic previously faced A$56m lawsuit over faulty embryo testing.

A woman in Australia has given birth to another couple’s baby following a critical mistake at a fertility clinic in Brisbane, where the wrong embryo was implanted during an IVF procedure.

The incident, which occurred at Monash IVF in Queensland, has been blamed on human error, according to Australian media reports. In response, the clinic has launched an internal investigation and notified the appropriate regulatory authorities.

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“On behalf of Monash IVF, I want to say how truly sorry I am for what has happened,” said the clinic’s CEO, Michael Knaap, expressing deep regret over the error. He added that everyone at the clinic was “devastated” by the mistake.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the error came to light in February after the birth parents requested the transfer of their remaining frozen embryos to another clinic. During the process, staff discovered that an embryo belonging to a different patient had been mistakenly thawed and implanted, resulting in the birth of a child not genetically related to the woman who carried the pregnancy.

Monash IVF has described the incident as an isolated case. Mr. Knaap explained that upon discovering the mistake, the clinic activated its crisis management team and began meeting with the affected patients within a week to apologise and offer support.

The case has been reported to the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee as well as Queensland’s newly established assisted reproductive technology regulator.

This is not the first controversy for Monash IVF. Last year, the clinic agreed to a settlement of A$56 million (£26.8 million) with 700 former patients after embryos were destroyed based on inaccurate genetic testing. Investigations revealed that around 35% of the embryos classified as abnormal were actually viable and could have resulted in successful pregnancies.

IVF, or in vitro fertilisation, is a complex and expensive procedure in which eggs are retrieved from a woman’s ovaries, fertilised in a laboratory, and then implanted into the uterus. Despite technological advances, the treatment does not guarantee pregnancy.

Australian Woman Gives Birth to Another Couple’s Baby

According to the University of New South Wales, more than 20,000 babies were born via IVF in Australia and New Zealand in 2021.