Errors at UK IVF clinics double in 12 months

The number of mistakes at IVF centres in England and Wales rose from 182 in 2007/8 to 334 in 2008/9.

Blunders included embryos being lost or implanted in the wrong woman, and eggs being fertilised with another man's sperm.

The figures from Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFEA), the IVF regulatory body, were obtained by BBC Radio Five Live's Donal MacIntyre show.

The HFEA said the errors represented less than 1 per cent of more than 50,000 IVF cycles carried out.

One couple were told by the University Hospital of Wales's IVF clinic that their last remaining embryos had been lost during treatment.

The pair, identified only as Clare and Gareth, had been trying for a baby for eight years.

Clare told the BBC: ''I was sat there, gowned up, waiting to go in and have a transfer. They said you've got one embryo remaining, the other two embryos have gone missing.

''They said in the next sentence I can assure you they haven't gone into anyone else. Those were two potential babies.''

The centre in Cardiff was responsible for another serious mix-up three years ago when a couple's last viable embryo was placed in the wrong woman. An investigation found serious failings at the clinic.

The clinic said its success rate in recovering embryos is among the highest in the world and all incidents are reported to the HFEA.

Clare and Gareth's solicitor, Guy Forster, of law firm Irwin Mitchell, said he has dealt with a dozen couples involved in similar incidents at different clinics around the country in the past 12 months.

He said: ''It may be perhaps that the embryos have been lost, or in the worst case scenario an embryo has been transferred into the wrong patient. It's deeply disturbing.''

Dr Sammy Lee, a fertility expert at University College Hospital, said: ''The key failure of the HFEA is that when they ask clinics to put in special procedures, they're not enforcing them.

''There's no point simply putting a request in writing and then expecting everything to be all right. You need to make sure that when you require something, that you have a way of enforcing it.''

Accidental surrogate hands over baby after IVF mistake

Carolyn Savage gave birth to a beautiful baby boy at Mercy St Vincent Medical Centre in Toledo, but he wasn't hers.

Due to a mix up at the fertility clinic, Mrs Savage had been implanted with an embryo belonging to Shannon and Paul Morell.

Given the choice of terminating the pregnancy or handing the baby over once he was born, she chose to carry the child to term.

Mrs Morell, whose maiden name was also Savage, had six embryos frozen after giving birth to twins. But when they were ready to try for a third child they got an urgent call from their fertility doctor, the New York Post reports.

"I'm so sorry, Shannon, but there's been a terrible incident in our lab," he said. "Your embryos have thawed."

"Your embryos were transferred to another woman."

Due to a human error at the lab, Mrs Morell's embryos were filed under her maiden name and transferred to Mrs Savage.

"I couldn't have felt more violated," Mrs Morell wrote in a new memoir, Misconception. "Of all the people in the world - of all the people who have embryos at this clinic - why did this happen to us?"

The two couples met during the pregnancy and the women warmed to each other. They bonded and became friends. The baby, named Logan, also has the middle name Savage.

"There's a connection with these people," Mrs Morell said in an interview with The New York Post. "He's given that name so he'll always remember what happened."

Birds, Bees & IVF

First it was the birds and the bees. Now children are being taught about modern reproduction including IVF and adoption along with traditional methods in a new sexuality education book.

Adelaide author and former school teacher Gina Dawson introduces the idea in her book So That's Where I Came From that families are no longer necessarily a mum, a dad and their naturally-conceived children.

Instead, the Black Dog Books title for six to 10-year-olds explains some families are made through "alternatives" including the help of science (in vitro fertilisation) and adoption.

It also touches on gay and lesbian family structures.

It is an updated resource for families who have turned to the pages of international best-seller Where Did I Come From? for more than 30 years to learn the basics of reproduction.

"It talks about conception the natural way, but also shows some people can't make a baby like that so they might need help," Ms Dawson said.


The book says "there are several ways to start a baby. . . Most babies start when an egg and sperm meet through sex, some begin through IVF when doctors help the sperm and egg meet and occasionally babies start with a donor egg or sperm".

Ms Dawson, who is now the director of Family Life SA, said she was unable to find an up-to-date resource that tackled the topic.

"Many parents want to address this with their children early in life but don't know how. This gives them a warm and friendly way to open up discussion about the topic," Ms Dawson said.

"It is inclusive of all children and families who didn't fit into the original book."

University of South Australia senior lecturer in early childhood Dr Elspeth McInnes said often parents - particularly those in non-conventional families - felt anxious about broaching the topic with their children.

Glandore mother of two Vicki Mangelsen appreciated having a book on this sensitive subject.

"It's a great way for families to sit down together and talk about it," Ms Mangelsen said.

Financial compulsions lead to patients asking for more Embryos

Birth rate of twins and triplets is set to increase as more Australian women undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) insist doctors to implant multiple embryos to reduce the cost of fertility treatment.

Despite multiple births carrying a five-fold greater risk of death, premature delivery or other complications, clinic chiefs say more couples are taking the chance.

According to experts, cuts to health care rebate have pushed up patient costs by about $1500 for each IVF cycle, forcing many to delay or abandon attempts to conceive. There is more pressure from cash-strapped patients to implant multiple embryos to boost chances of pregnancy in one cycle, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

'They're saying, we understand that it's more dangerous but we can't afford to do another cycle so we'll have two embryos put back and we'll deal with the consequences. If our (premature) baby... has to have eight weeks in intensive care, well medicare pays for that,' said Gab Kovacs, international medical director at Monash IVF in Melbourne.

Medical director of Fertility First in Hurstville, Anne Clark, said while some patients asked for more than a single-embryo transfer, more opted out of having a second child through IVF.

IVF Australia medical director and Fertility Society president Peter Illingworth said the trend would affect the health system.

'There can be long-term health complications for twins born as a result of IVF,' he said.

'Ideally, we would like to put one embryo in at a time because of those risks but we are getting more pressure from patients to do two.'

In January, federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon capped Medicare safety net payments - which paid 80 percent of the gap between doctors' fees and the Medicare rebate - after a review found specialists were charging patients excessive fees.

According to government, patients would be no worse off if specialists charged $6000, the cost of a typical cycle. But doctors said the average cycle cost up to $7500, or higher if patients required extra treatment.

Sandra Dill, from infertility support group Access Australia, said it had been receiving 30 to 40 calls and e-mails a week since the changes, from patients complaining to be under increased financial stress.

Prisoner's legal bid for IVF treatment

A Supreme Court judge has ordered a speedy trial for a Victorian prisoner seeking IVF treatment.

Kimberley Castles, 45, has a year left on her sentence for welfare fraud at the Tarrengower Prison near Maldon, north-west of Melbourne.

She has to have IVF treatment before her 46th birthday in seven months, otherwise she becomes ineligible for the procedure.

Her bid to access immediate treatment was refused in court today.

But her lawyer, Rachel Ball, says she is pleased the court has decided to expedite the trial.

"The key human rights in this case are Kimberley's right to privacy, to make her own decisions about her own family, her right to be treated fairly in prison," she said.

"That includes her right to access health care equivalent to the health care that's available to everyone else in the community."

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