IVF system fails to pass the pub test, minister says
Australia's IVF accreditation system fails to pass the pub test, a government minister has said, as discussions continue following multiple embryo mix-ups at one of the nation's largest fertility providers.
State and territory health ministers met with their federal counterpart on Friday, where it was agreed that a rapid nationwide review would begin to consider establishing an independent accreditation body.
It comes after Monash IVF revealed staff had transferred the wrong embryo to a woman at a Melbourne clinic last week, following a similar blunder involving a separate Monash patient in Brisbane.
Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said she hoped the establishment of an independent body could occur immediately, but claimed it was met with pushback from Queensland.
"We got to move quickly," she told reporters.
"It's concerning ... there may well be more errors that we don't know about. And that is because the body that currently accredits fertility care providers is made up of fertility care providers.
"That's why I find Queensland's position so perplexing."
A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the minister had "advocated for an informed understanding" of the accreditation and regulation framework.
"Health ministers decided that Queensland would lead work to understand the issues better and to ensure a strategy would be well informed," the spokesman said.
The three-month review will consider whether the state regulatory schemes are fit for purpose when it comes to safety and quality.
The IVF industry is primarily regulated by states and territories.
Clinics must be licensed to operate by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee.Ms Thomas said the main issue for her was how fertility care was accredited.
"It simply doesn't pass the pub test that the people that provide the service are also the ones that determine who provides the service," she said.
"We have work to do there."
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, who used IVF to welcome his third child, described the two recent embryo mix-ups as "frankly shocking".
"As governments, we've got a responsibility to see whether there are better levels of regulation that should be put in place, and to inject some confidence back into a system that delivers such joy to so many thousands of families every year," he told ABC Radio.
Monash IVF chief executive Michael Knaap resigned on Thursday after it was revealed staff at a Melbourne laboratory gave a patient one of her embryos, instead of one from her partner as intended.
An investigation is under way into how it happened.
The company, which has a presence across Australia, apologised to the couple, while the Victorian Health Regulator has also launched an investigation.
Monash revealed in April that a woman at a Brisbane facility was incorrectly impregnated with another patient's embryo, which was blamed on "human error".
The mistake was picked up after the child was born when the birth parents asked for their remaining embryos to be transferred elsewhere and an additional embryo was unexpectedly found in storage.
Former Monash director Gab Kovacs, who was involved with developing earlier IVF guidelines, told AAP the mix-up was a "very rare occurrence".
"However, with 100,000 cycles of IVF in Australia, even with this occurring very, very rarely, it is inevitable that this will happen," Mr Kovacs said.
"It is due to human error and this cannot be eliminated.
"The two incidents happened in two separate clinics, 2000km apart ... (involving) different personnel, different lab managers."
About 20,000 babies conceived by IVF are born in Australia each year.
Australia's IVF accreditation system fails to pass the pub test, a government minister has said, as discussions continue following multiple embryo mix-ups at one of the nation's largest fertility providers.
State and territory health ministers met with their federal counterpart on Friday, where it was agreed that a rapid nationwide review would begin to consider establishing an independent accreditation body.
It comes after Monash IVF revealed staff had transferred the wrong embryo to a woman at a Melbourne clinic last week, following a similar blunder involving a separate Monash patient in Brisbane.
Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said she hoped the establishment of an independent body could occur immediately, but claimed it was met with pushback from Queensland.
"We got to move quickly," she told reporters.
"It's concerning ... there may well be more errors that we don't know about. And that is because the body that currently accredits fertility care providers is made up of fertility care providers.
"That's why I find Queensland's position so perplexing."
A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the minister had "advocated for an informed understanding" of the accreditation and regulation framework.
"Health ministers decided that Queensland would lead work to understand the issues better and to ensure a strategy would be well informed," the spokesman said.
The three-month review will consider whether the state regulatory schemes are fit for purpose when it comes to safety and quality.
The IVF industry is primarily regulated by states and territories.
Clinics must be licensed to operate by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee.Ms Thomas said the main issue for her was how fertility care was accredited.
"It simply doesn't pass the pub test that the people that provide the service are also the ones that determine who provides the service," she said.
"We have work to do there."
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, who used IVF to welcome his third child, described the two recent embryo mix-ups as "frankly shocking".
"As governments, we've got a responsibility to see whether there are better levels of regulation that should be put in place, and to inject some confidence back into a system that delivers such joy to so many thousands of families every year," he told ABC Radio.
Monash IVF chief executive Michael Knaap resigned on Thursday after it was revealed staff at a Melbourne laboratory gave a patient one of her embryos, instead of one from her partner as intended.
An investigation is under way into how it happened.
The company, which has a presence across Australia, apologised to the couple, while the Victorian Health Regulator has also launched an investigation.
Monash revealed in April that a woman at a Brisbane facility was incorrectly impregnated with another patient's embryo, which was blamed on "human error".
The mistake was picked up after the child was born when the birth parents asked for their remaining embryos to be transferred elsewhere and an additional embryo was unexpectedly found in storage.
Former Monash director Gab Kovacs, who was involved with developing earlier IVF guidelines, told AAP the mix-up was a "very rare occurrence".
"However, with 100,000 cycles of IVF in Australia, even with this occurring very, very rarely, it is inevitable that this will happen," Mr Kovacs said.
"It is due to human error and this cannot be eliminated.
"The two incidents happened in two separate clinics, 2000km apart ... (involving) different personnel, different lab managers."
About 20,000 babies conceived by IVF are born in Australia each year.
Australia's IVF accreditation system fails to pass the pub test, a government minister has said, as discussions continue following multiple embryo mix-ups at one of the nation's largest fertility providers.
State and territory health ministers met with their federal counterpart on Friday, where it was agreed that a rapid nationwide review would begin to consider establishing an independent accreditation body.
It comes after Monash IVF revealed staff had transferred the wrong embryo to a woman at a Melbourne clinic last week, following a similar blunder involving a separate Monash patient in Brisbane.
Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said she hoped the establishment of an independent body could occur immediately, but claimed it was met with pushback from Queensland.
"We got to move quickly," she told reporters.
"It's concerning ... there may well be more errors that we don't know about. And that is because the body that currently accredits fertility care providers is made up of fertility care providers.
"That's why I find Queensland's position so perplexing."
A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the minister had "advocated for an informed understanding" of the accreditation and regulation framework.
"Health ministers decided that Queensland would lead work to understand the issues better and to ensure a strategy would be well informed," the spokesman said.
The three-month review will consider whether the state regulatory schemes are fit for purpose when it comes to safety and quality.
The IVF industry is primarily regulated by states and territories.
Clinics must be licensed to operate by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee.Ms Thomas said the main issue for her was how fertility care was accredited.
"It simply doesn't pass the pub test that the people that provide the service are also the ones that determine who provides the service," she said.
"We have work to do there."
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, who used IVF to welcome his third child, described the two recent embryo mix-ups as "frankly shocking".
"As governments, we've got a responsibility to see whether there are better levels of regulation that should be put in place, and to inject some confidence back into a system that delivers such joy to so many thousands of families every year," he told ABC Radio.
Monash IVF chief executive Michael Knaap resigned on Thursday after it was revealed staff at a Melbourne laboratory gave a patient one of her embryos, instead of one from her partner as intended.
An investigation is under way into how it happened.
The company, which has a presence across Australia, apologised to the couple, while the Victorian Health Regulator has also launched an investigation.
Monash revealed in April that a woman at a Brisbane facility was incorrectly impregnated with another patient's embryo, which was blamed on "human error".
The mistake was picked up after the child was born when the birth parents asked for their remaining embryos to be transferred elsewhere and an additional embryo was unexpectedly found in storage.
Former Monash director Gab Kovacs, who was involved with developing earlier IVF guidelines, told AAP the mix-up was a "very rare occurrence".
"However, with 100,000 cycles of IVF in Australia, even with this occurring very, very rarely, it is inevitable that this will happen," Mr Kovacs said.
"It is due to human error and this cannot be eliminated.
"The two incidents happened in two separate clinics, 2000km apart ... (involving) different personnel, different lab managers."
About 20,000 babies conceived by IVF are born in Australia each year.
Australia's IVF accreditation system fails to pass the pub test, a government minister has said, as discussions continue following multiple embryo mix-ups at one of the nation's largest fertility providers.
State and territory health ministers met with their federal counterpart on Friday, where it was agreed that a rapid nationwide review would begin to consider establishing an independent accreditation body.
It comes after Monash IVF revealed staff had transferred the wrong embryo to a woman at a Melbourne clinic last week, following a similar blunder involving a separate Monash patient in Brisbane.
Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said she hoped the establishment of an independent body could occur immediately, but claimed it was met with pushback from Queensland.
"We got to move quickly," she told reporters.
"It's concerning ... there may well be more errors that we don't know about. And that is because the body that currently accredits fertility care providers is made up of fertility care providers.
"That's why I find Queensland's position so perplexing."
A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the minister had "advocated for an informed understanding" of the accreditation and regulation framework.
"Health ministers decided that Queensland would lead work to understand the issues better and to ensure a strategy would be well informed," the spokesman said.
The three-month review will consider whether the state regulatory schemes are fit for purpose when it comes to safety and quality.
The IVF industry is primarily regulated by states and territories.
Clinics must be licensed to operate by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee.Ms Thomas said the main issue for her was how fertility care was accredited.
"It simply doesn't pass the pub test that the people that provide the service are also the ones that determine who provides the service," she said.
"We have work to do there."
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, who used IVF to welcome his third child, described the two recent embryo mix-ups as "frankly shocking".
"As governments, we've got a responsibility to see whether there are better levels of regulation that should be put in place, and to inject some confidence back into a system that delivers such joy to so many thousands of families every year," he told ABC Radio.
Monash IVF chief executive Michael Knaap resigned on Thursday after it was revealed staff at a Melbourne laboratory gave a patient one of her embryos, instead of one from her partner as intended.
An investigation is under way into how it happened.
The company, which has a presence across Australia, apologised to the couple, while the Victorian Health Regulator has also launched an investigation.
Monash revealed in April that a woman at a Brisbane facility was incorrectly impregnated with another patient's embryo, which was blamed on "human error".
The mistake was picked up after the child was born when the birth parents asked for their remaining embryos to be transferred elsewhere and an additional embryo was unexpectedly found in storage.
Former Monash director Gab Kovacs, who was involved with developing earlier IVF guidelines, told AAP the mix-up was a "very rare occurrence".
"However, with 100,000 cycles of IVF in Australia, even with this occurring very, very rarely, it is inevitable that this will happen," Mr Kovacs said.
"It is due to human error and this cannot be eliminated.
"The two incidents happened in two separate clinics, 2000km apart ... (involving) different personnel, different lab managers."
About 20,000 babies conceived by IVF are born in Australia each year.
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The IVF industry is under the microscope after Monash IVF apologised for a second embryo bungle. How rare is a mistake?
The IVF industry is under the microscope after major fertility provider Monash IVF apologised for a second embryo bungle. Days after the company told the stock market about the latest case, its chief executive officer resigned. It followed revelations in April that one of Monash IVF's Brisbane patients had been mistakenly implanted with another woman's embryo in 2023 and gave birth to a baby who had no genetic links to her later that year. An independent review is ongoing. Approximately 20,000 babies are born from IVF treatment in Australia every year, according to the Australian and New Zealand Assisted Reproduction Database. So, what is the process, what are the checks and balances, and how rare are such bungles? In vitro fertilisation — or IVF — is one of the most common assisted reproductive technology procedures (ART). The process involves collecting a donor or patient's eggs, then fertilising them with sperm in a Petri dish in a lab. A fertilised egg — known as an embryo — is then implanted into the woman's uterus. Fertility educator and IVF patient advocate Lucy Lines has previously worked as an embryologist — a scientist who specialises in developing embryos. She says whenever eggs, sperm or embryos are moved in the lab, the dishes and paperwork are all labelled with the patient's name, their ID number, and date of birth. In some labs, they are allocated a colour code as well, she says. "At minimum, there are three points of reference for each client inside the lab," she says. "So then when anything is moved from one dish or tube to another dish or tube, a second embryologist will come along and audibly repeat [the patient's name, date of birth, and the ID number]. "That is the historical way that it was done. "In some labs they've added an extra level, a barcode that requires a scanner to read the barcode, or in some other labs they have an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) label, which has an auto-reader on the bench top or workspace and that reader will sound if there are things on that bench that don't match each other." It varies. There are more than 40 "different pieces of legislation" governing ART and IVF across the country, according to the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ). For example, laws to regulate ART providers in Queensland only passed parliament last year. By comparison, Victoria has had laws in place for years. FSANZ's Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee (RTAC) is responsible for setting performance standards and granting licences to fertility providers across the country. The society and RTAC are currently operated on a "volunteer basis by professionals within the sector who have taken on additional responsibilities". FSANZ is calling for the establishment of RTAC as an independent statutory authority to "strengthen oversight and trust in the sector". That is backed by the Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas who said yesterday it was concerning that the body that currently accredits fertility care providers is made up of fertility care providers. Yesterday, all Australian states and territories agreed to undertake a review into the implementation of an independent verification body for fertility providers. There are growing calls for national fertility legislation to replace the "fragmented" state and territory laws and provide "consistent, enforceable standards". IVF activist Anastasia Gunn is among those pushing for change. "We're asking for federal legislation of the industry, which the industry itself are asking for that," she says. "We're asking for a federal donor conception registry [as] historically gametes and embryos have been moved interstate. 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IVF system fails to pass the pub test, minister says
Australia's IVF accreditation system fails to pass the pub test, a government minister has said, as discussions continue following multiple embryo mix-ups at one of the nation's largest fertility providers. State and territory health ministers met with their federal counterpart on Friday, where it was agreed that a rapid nationwide review would begin to consider establishing an independent accreditation body. It comes after Monash IVF revealed staff had transferred the wrong embryo to a woman at a Melbourne clinic last week, following a similar blunder involving a separate Monash patient in Brisbane. Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said she hoped the establishment of an independent body could occur immediately, but claimed it was met with pushback from Queensland. "We got to move quickly," she told reporters. "It's concerning ... there may well be more errors that we don't know about. And that is because the body that currently accredits fertility care providers is made up of fertility care providers. "That's why I find Queensland's position so perplexing." A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the minister had "advocated for an informed understanding" of the accreditation and regulation framework. "Health ministers decided that Queensland would lead work to understand the issues better and to ensure a strategy would be well informed," the spokesman said. The three-month review will consider whether the state regulatory schemes are fit for purpose when it comes to safety and quality. The IVF industry is primarily regulated by states and territories. Clinics must be licensed to operate by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Thomas said the main issue for her was how fertility care was accredited. "It simply doesn't pass the pub test that the people that provide the service are also the ones that determine who provides the service," she said. "We have work to do there." Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, who used IVF to welcome his third child, described the two recent embryo mix-ups as "frankly shocking". "As governments, we've got a responsibility to see whether there are better levels of regulation that should be put in place, and to inject some confidence back into a system that delivers such joy to so many thousands of families every year," he told ABC Radio. Monash IVF chief executive Michael Knaap resigned on Thursday after it was revealed staff at a Melbourne laboratory gave a patient one of her embryos, instead of one from her partner as intended. An investigation is under way into how it happened. The company, which has a presence across Australia, apologised to the couple, while the Victorian Health Regulator has also launched an investigation. Monash revealed in April that a woman at a Brisbane facility was incorrectly impregnated with another patient's embryo, which was blamed on "human error". The mistake was picked up after the child was born when the birth parents asked for their remaining embryos to be transferred elsewhere and an additional embryo was unexpectedly found in storage. Former Monash director Gab Kovacs, who was involved with developing earlier IVF guidelines, told AAP the mix-up was a "very rare occurrence". "However, with 100,000 cycles of IVF in Australia, even with this occurring very, very rarely, it is inevitable that this will happen," Mr Kovacs said. "It is due to human error and this cannot be eliminated. "The two incidents happened in two separate clinics, 2000km apart ... (involving) different personnel, different lab managers." About 20,000 babies conceived by IVF are born in Australia each year. Australia's IVF accreditation system fails to pass the pub test, a government minister has said, as discussions continue following multiple embryo mix-ups at one of the nation's largest fertility providers. State and territory health ministers met with their federal counterpart on Friday, where it was agreed that a rapid nationwide review would begin to consider establishing an independent accreditation body. It comes after Monash IVF revealed staff had transferred the wrong embryo to a woman at a Melbourne clinic last week, following a similar blunder involving a separate Monash patient in Brisbane. Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said she hoped the establishment of an independent body could occur immediately, but claimed it was met with pushback from Queensland. "We got to move quickly," she told reporters. "It's concerning ... there may well be more errors that we don't know about. And that is because the body that currently accredits fertility care providers is made up of fertility care providers. "That's why I find Queensland's position so perplexing." A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the minister had "advocated for an informed understanding" of the accreditation and regulation framework. "Health ministers decided that Queensland would lead work to understand the issues better and to ensure a strategy would be well informed," the spokesman said. The three-month review will consider whether the state regulatory schemes are fit for purpose when it comes to safety and quality. The IVF industry is primarily regulated by states and territories. Clinics must be licensed to operate by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Thomas said the main issue for her was how fertility care was accredited. "It simply doesn't pass the pub test that the people that provide the service are also the ones that determine who provides the service," she said. "We have work to do there." Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, who used IVF to welcome his third child, described the two recent embryo mix-ups as "frankly shocking". "As governments, we've got a responsibility to see whether there are better levels of regulation that should be put in place, and to inject some confidence back into a system that delivers such joy to so many thousands of families every year," he told ABC Radio. Monash IVF chief executive Michael Knaap resigned on Thursday after it was revealed staff at a Melbourne laboratory gave a patient one of her embryos, instead of one from her partner as intended. An investigation is under way into how it happened. The company, which has a presence across Australia, apologised to the couple, while the Victorian Health Regulator has also launched an investigation. Monash revealed in April that a woman at a Brisbane facility was incorrectly impregnated with another patient's embryo, which was blamed on "human error". The mistake was picked up after the child was born when the birth parents asked for their remaining embryos to be transferred elsewhere and an additional embryo was unexpectedly found in storage. Former Monash director Gab Kovacs, who was involved with developing earlier IVF guidelines, told AAP the mix-up was a "very rare occurrence". "However, with 100,000 cycles of IVF in Australia, even with this occurring very, very rarely, it is inevitable that this will happen," Mr Kovacs said. "It is due to human error and this cannot be eliminated. "The two incidents happened in two separate clinics, 2000km apart ... (involving) different personnel, different lab managers." About 20,000 babies conceived by IVF are born in Australia each year. Australia's IVF accreditation system fails to pass the pub test, a government minister has said, as discussions continue following multiple embryo mix-ups at one of the nation's largest fertility providers. State and territory health ministers met with their federal counterpart on Friday, where it was agreed that a rapid nationwide review would begin to consider establishing an independent accreditation body. It comes after Monash IVF revealed staff had transferred the wrong embryo to a woman at a Melbourne clinic last week, following a similar blunder involving a separate Monash patient in Brisbane. Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said she hoped the establishment of an independent body could occur immediately, but claimed it was met with pushback from Queensland. "We got to move quickly," she told reporters. "It's concerning ... there may well be more errors that we don't know about. And that is because the body that currently accredits fertility care providers is made up of fertility care providers. "That's why I find Queensland's position so perplexing." A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the minister had "advocated for an informed understanding" of the accreditation and regulation framework. "Health ministers decided that Queensland would lead work to understand the issues better and to ensure a strategy would be well informed," the spokesman said. The three-month review will consider whether the state regulatory schemes are fit for purpose when it comes to safety and quality. The IVF industry is primarily regulated by states and territories. Clinics must be licensed to operate by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Thomas said the main issue for her was how fertility care was accredited. "It simply doesn't pass the pub test that the people that provide the service are also the ones that determine who provides the service," she said. "We have work to do there." Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, who used IVF to welcome his third child, described the two recent embryo mix-ups as "frankly shocking". "As governments, we've got a responsibility to see whether there are better levels of regulation that should be put in place, and to inject some confidence back into a system that delivers such joy to so many thousands of families every year," he told ABC Radio. Monash IVF chief executive Michael Knaap resigned on Thursday after it was revealed staff at a Melbourne laboratory gave a patient one of her embryos, instead of one from her partner as intended. An investigation is under way into how it happened. The company, which has a presence across Australia, apologised to the couple, while the Victorian Health Regulator has also launched an investigation. Monash revealed in April that a woman at a Brisbane facility was incorrectly impregnated with another patient's embryo, which was blamed on "human error". The mistake was picked up after the child was born when the birth parents asked for their remaining embryos to be transferred elsewhere and an additional embryo was unexpectedly found in storage. Former Monash director Gab Kovacs, who was involved with developing earlier IVF guidelines, told AAP the mix-up was a "very rare occurrence". "However, with 100,000 cycles of IVF in Australia, even with this occurring very, very rarely, it is inevitable that this will happen," Mr Kovacs said. "It is due to human error and this cannot be eliminated. "The two incidents happened in two separate clinics, 2000km apart ... (involving) different personnel, different lab managers." About 20,000 babies conceived by IVF are born in Australia each year. Australia's IVF accreditation system fails to pass the pub test, a government minister has said, as discussions continue following multiple embryo mix-ups at one of the nation's largest fertility providers. State and territory health ministers met with their federal counterpart on Friday, where it was agreed that a rapid nationwide review would begin to consider establishing an independent accreditation body. It comes after Monash IVF revealed staff had transferred the wrong embryo to a woman at a Melbourne clinic last week, following a similar blunder involving a separate Monash patient in Brisbane. Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said she hoped the establishment of an independent body could occur immediately, but claimed it was met with pushback from Queensland. "We got to move quickly," she told reporters. "It's concerning ... there may well be more errors that we don't know about. And that is because the body that currently accredits fertility care providers is made up of fertility care providers. "That's why I find Queensland's position so perplexing." A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the minister had "advocated for an informed understanding" of the accreditation and regulation framework. "Health ministers decided that Queensland would lead work to understand the issues better and to ensure a strategy would be well informed," the spokesman said. The three-month review will consider whether the state regulatory schemes are fit for purpose when it comes to safety and quality. The IVF industry is primarily regulated by states and territories. Clinics must be licensed to operate by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Thomas said the main issue for her was how fertility care was accredited. "It simply doesn't pass the pub test that the people that provide the service are also the ones that determine who provides the service," she said. "We have work to do there." Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, who used IVF to welcome his third child, described the two recent embryo mix-ups as "frankly shocking". "As governments, we've got a responsibility to see whether there are better levels of regulation that should be put in place, and to inject some confidence back into a system that delivers such joy to so many thousands of families every year," he told ABC Radio. Monash IVF chief executive Michael Knaap resigned on Thursday after it was revealed staff at a Melbourne laboratory gave a patient one of her embryos, instead of one from her partner as intended. An investigation is under way into how it happened. The company, which has a presence across Australia, apologised to the couple, while the Victorian Health Regulator has also launched an investigation. Monash revealed in April that a woman at a Brisbane facility was incorrectly impregnated with another patient's embryo, which was blamed on "human error". The mistake was picked up after the child was born when the birth parents asked for their remaining embryos to be transferred elsewhere and an additional embryo was unexpectedly found in storage. Former Monash director Gab Kovacs, who was involved with developing earlier IVF guidelines, told AAP the mix-up was a "very rare occurrence". "However, with 100,000 cycles of IVF in Australia, even with this occurring very, very rarely, it is inevitable that this will happen," Mr Kovacs said. "It is due to human error and this cannot be eliminated. "The two incidents happened in two separate clinics, 2000km apart ... (involving) different personnel, different lab managers." About 20,000 babies conceived by IVF are born in Australia each year.
