A WELSH IVF clinic lost the embryos of a couple who had been trying for a baby for eight years.
The incident at IVF Wales comes just months after another couple were awarded compensation when their embryo was implanted in another woman.
And it emerged as figures show that errors at fertility clinics almost doubled in 12 months.
The couple, known only as Clare and Gareth, are now taking legal action against Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, which runs IVF Wales.
They had been told by staff at the clinic, which is based at the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff, that two of their three remaining embryos had been lost.
Clare told BBC 5 Live: “I was sat there, gowned up, waiting to go in and have a transfer.
“They said you’ve got one embryo remaining, the other two embryos have gone missing.
“They said in the next sentence I can assure you they haven’t gone into anyone else.”
She added: “Those were two potential babies.”
IVF Wales was responsible for another serious mix-up three years ago when Bridgend couple Deborah Hole and Paul Thomas’ last viable embryo was placed in the wrong woman.
An investigation found serious failings at the clinic.
IVF Wales said its success rate in recovering embryos is among the highest in the world and all incidents are reported to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).
Clare and Gareth’s solicitor, Guy Forster, of law firm Irwin Mitchell, said he has dealt with a dozen couples involved in similar incidents at different clinics around the country in the past 12 months.
He said: “It may be perhaps that the embryos have been lost, or in the worst case scenario an embryo has been transferred into the wrong patient. It’s deeply disturbing.”
Figures obtained by the Donal Mcintyre programme, reveal the number of mistakes at IVF centres in England and Wales rose from 182 in 2007-08 to 334 in 2008-09.
Blunders included embryos being lost or implanted in the wrong woman, and eggs being fertilised with another man’s sperm.
The HFEA said the errors represented less than 1% of more than 50,000 IVF cycles carried out.
But Dr Sammy Lee, a fertility expert at University College Hospital, said: “The key failure of the HFEA is that when they ask clinics to put in special procedures, they’re not enforcing them.
“There’s no point simply putting a request in writing and then expecting everything to be all right. You need to make sure that when you require something, that you have a way of enforcing it.”
Quelle: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/
