April 19, 2024

UK IVF clinic destroys donated eggs

Michael Cook

A UK couple are distraught after a blunder at IVF Wales in Cardiff. Chris and Lorraine were told over the phone on the evening they returned from IVF Wales in Cardiff that a batch of eggs had been accidentally destroyed. The couple had been trying to have a baby for seven years. Earlier this month, the clinic was slated for mistakenly destroying sperm donated by cancer patients about to be treated.

A UK couple are distraught after a blunder at IVF Wales in Cardiff. Chris and Lorraine were told over the phone on the evening they returned from IVF Wales in Cardiff that a batch of eggs had been accidentally destroyed. The couple had been trying to have a baby for seven years. Earlier this month, the clinic was slated for mistakenly destroying sperm donated by cancer patients about to be treated.

The error was uncovered by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the UK’s fertility watchdog. The HFEA’s report said it was “extremely concerned” by the clinic’s errors this year. Lorraine’s sister donated eggs in February, which were described as “of exceptional quality”. But hours later they were told that they had all been destroyed in a “mechanical error”.

Lawyer Guy Forster said: “It is extraordinary that a clinic can have such a lackadaisical approach to quality and risk management but it is perhaps even more concerning that this has been allowed to carry on despite numerous serious incidents.

“Although the clinic must take its share of the blame for the catalogue of errors in recent years, I am greatly concerned that the HFEA – which as the official regulator exists both to police the industry and ensure best practice – appears to have been largely ineffective in reducing rudimentary errors and improving standards at this particular clinic.” ~ Daily Mail, Nov 22

Jared Yee
HFEA
IVF
UK

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