Woman Gives Birth to Stranger’s Baby in ‘Distressing’ IVF Mix-Up

The fertility clinic said the mistake was a result of “human error”

A woman has given birth to another person’s baby following an IVF mix-up at a fertility clinic.

Australia’s Monash IVF confirmed that the error occurred in February at one of its Brisbane clinics. An embryo from a different patient was incorrectly transferred to the woman, according to a press release obtained by PEOPLE.

“An embryo from a different patient had previously been incorrectly thawed and transferred to the birth parents, which resulted in the birth of a child,” the company said in a statement.

The clinic said the mistake was a result of “human error,” which was discovered after the birth parents requested that their remaining embryos be transferred to another IVF provider. 

“Instead of finding the expected number of embryos, an additional embryo remained in storage for the birth parents,” the company said.

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Michael Knaap, chief executive of Monash IVF, apologized for the mistake and said no other families are believed to be affected.

“On behalf of Monash IVF, I want to say how truly sorry I am for what has happened,” he said in the release. “All of us at Monash IVF are devastated and we apologise to everyone involved. We will continue to support the patients through this extremely distressing time. Since becoming aware of this incident, we have undertaken additional audits and we’re confident that this is an isolated incident.”

The clinic has launched an investigation, and the incident has since been reported to the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee, the Queensland assisted reproductive technology regulator.

The mix-up comes less than a year after Monash IVF reached a $56 million settlement in a class action lawsuit with more than 700 former patients for the destruction of potentially viable embryos due to faulty screening.