Second Australian IVF mix-up shakes clinic and industry

TimesLIVE

3 days ago

One of Australia's top IVF providers mistakenly implanted a patient with her own embryo instead of her partner's in a second fertility clinic mix-up, heightening concerns about an industry that did not have much active government oversight until recently.
Monash IVF said the error took place on June 5 at a clinic in Melbourne but did not provide further details such as how it learned of the bungle or what the couple planned to do next. The company said it was supporting the couple, who it did not identify.
It said the patient's embryo was mistakenly implanted under a treatment plan which called for an embryo from the patient's partner to be transferred.
The incident builds on a reputational maelstrom for Monash IVF, which was reeling from an April disclosure that an Australian woman had given birth to a stranger's baby after a fertility doctor accidentally implanted the wrong embryo in Brisbane in 2023.
That mix-up sparked concerns about security protocols at IVF clinics and an industry which is in the process of being more regulated.
Monash claimed the world's first IVF pregnancy five decades ago and is Australia's second-largest IVF provider, carrying out nearly a quarter of the country's 100,000 assisted reproductive cycles a year, according to industry data.
"The mix-up, the second reported incident at Monash IVF, risks shaking confidence not only in one provider but across the entire fertility sector," said Hilary Bowman-Smart, a researcher and bioethicist at the University of South Australia.
Shares of Monash IVF were down 25% by midsession on Tuesday, against a rising broader market. The stock is just over half its value before the April announcement.