IVF Mix-Up: Woman Unknowingly Gives Birth to Wrong Baby

In Australia, a woman gave birth to a baby that wasn’t hers by mistake! This happened because a mix-up at a fertility clinic meant she got the wrong embryo. The mistake was found out in February when the clinic in Brisbane realized something was wrong with the number of embryos they had.

The clinic, named Monash IVF, said they accidentally used an embryo from another person when they performed in vitro fertilization (IVF) for the birth mother. The baby was born in 2024. Monash IVF, one of the biggest IVF clinics in Australia, said they are very sorry for the mix-up and are supporting all the families involved during this tough time.

They explained that even though they have strict rules to prevent mistakes, this one still happened. The clinic has reported this incident to the authorities in Queensland. Monash IVF has been around since 1971 and has many locations across Australia. Last year, they faced another problem when they had to settle a lawsuit after some embryos were destroyed, though they didn’t admit to being responsible.

Mix-ups like this have also happened in other countries, including the U.S. For example, in Georgia, a woman named Krystena Murray found out she had given birth to a stranger’s baby when her baby looked different from her and the sperm donor. She decided to give the baby back to the real parents after learning that she might not win custody in court.

In Australia, rules about IVF are different from one state to another, which can lead to mistakes. Recently, Queensland passed new laws to better regulate IVF clinics. The new rules will create a registry for everyone born through IVF and make it illegal to destroy information about sperm donors. This comes after a report found many frozen sperm samples were at risk of being mixed up. Amanda Rishworth, the Minister for Social Services, said it’s important to make sure all states have strong rules to keep patients safe and rebuild trust.