Fertility group Monash IVF has transferred the wrong embryo into a Melbourne woman, the second such incident admitted by the company in two months.
In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange on Tuesday morning, the company revealed the incident occurred at a Clayton lab on June 5, when it mistakenly transferred a patient’s own embryo to her during a process in which she was supposed to receive an embryo from her partner.
“Monash IVF has extended its sincere apologies to the affected couple, and we continue to support them,” it said.
Earlier this year, the company was forced to admit another embryo mix-up at its Brisbane clinic, which resulted in a Queensland woman giving birth to a stranger’s baby. While that bungle occurred in 2023, it was discovered this year when the woman’s embryos were being relocated to another clinic.
Monash IVF confirmed it is conducting an internal investigation into the Melbourne incident and has extended the scope of the independent review being conducted by Victorian Senior Counsel Fiona McLeod in relation to the Brisbane incident.
An update on the findings is expected “in due course”.
“Commencing immediately, Monash IVF will implement interim additional verification processes and patient confirmation safeguards over and above normal practice and electronic witness systems, to ensure patients and clinicians have every confidence in its processes,” it said.
“Whilst industry leading electronic witness systems have and are being rolled out across Monash IVF, there remains instances and circumstances whereby manual witnessing is required.”
The company also said the incident has been disclosed to the relevant assisted reproductive technology regulators, namely the Victorian Health Regulator and the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee certifying body.
“In addition, Monash IVF has notified its insurers and expects the incident to fall within the scope of its insurance coverage,” it said.
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