It’s an expectant parent’s worst nightmare.
Actually scrap that, no it’s not.
Because this is a story so strange and so surprising that it’s a circumstance that no parent would ever imagine could happen to them.
An Italian woman who got pregnant using IVF technologies has just been told that she’s not actually carrying the embryos which were created using her own eggs. She is currently pregnant with another couple’s twins.
The mix up reportedly happened at a fertility clinic in Rome, where four couples were undergoing treatment at the time of the incident. The clinic only became aware of the problem on March 27, when tests showed that the twins were not genetically matched to their supposed parents.
The woman, who is now four months’ pregnant, received the news three months ago. It’s not known whether any of the other couples are pregnant and whether or not they’re carrying their own babies or someone else’s.
Italy’s health ministry has now launched an investigation into the operations of Sandro Pertini Hospitaland. Speaking to the media, Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin said: “The national standards on assisted fertilisation, which are based on European directives, are very rigorous, and if applied correctly, guarantee the traceability of all biological material used in the reproduction process.”
It’s a story of utter emotional confusion and gives way to a barrage of endless questions.
Who keeps the babies when they’re born? The couple they genetically belong to? Or the couple who carried them to term?
This couple has obviously been through a lot to get pregnant and then they’re told their babies aren’t theirs. How do you fathom going through another six months of pregnancy?
No doubt, readers’ thoughts are with the couples involved. You can only hope that somehow this debacle can be resolved cordially and that these couples who so desperately wanted these soon-to-be-born babies are able to find happiness as parents.
What do you think the outcome should be? What is the fairest way to resolve this difficult situation?
Top Comments
The biological parents have every right to them. They did not implant the embryos in the wrong mother. It has to be heart breaking for the surrogate but there could be some happiness in providing those babies to their biological parents. The hospital should pay big time for this error and give the wronged parents lots more invitros free until they have their own child/children.
You realize that there's no surrogate involved here? They implanted the embryo's from a different couple who were also trying for a baby via ivf into another woman who is also trying for a baby via ivf. A mistake was made and this is the result of that. Hopefully the other couple got pregnant as well and with her baby(ies) and it works itself out.
And I do realize that this woman whom this has happened to, could now be the surrogate for them. Though originally that was not the intended plan for either of these couples. It's just heart breaking to have to go through something like this and more than likely beyond stressful.
Of course the genetic parents should be given their babies once born. The embryos were not donated to another couple, but through negligence, implanted into the wrong woman. This is a different situation from a surrogate who consents to carry the fertilized embryo of an infertile couple, then after giving birth decides to keep the baby, because 'she carried it' for 40 weeks. I guess this is a consequence of when embryos have been made a commodity to be bought and sold.