“Nightmare” legal and ethical after the woman gave birth to Stranger’s son due to an error by Ivf by Monash | Queensland

The future of a child whose mother was the mother erroneously given the embryo of a stranger It is an unprecedented legal and ethical “nightmare” in the Australian law, the experts say.

Monash Ivf, who operates throughout Australia, apologized after a patient in one of his Brisbane The clinics had an embryo erroneously transferred to her, which means that involuntarily gave birth to the son of another woman.

Monash said that the situation was the result of “human error” and it was confident that it was an isolated accident.

Shine Lawyers Queensland The leader of the practice of medical negligence Frances Bertram said that determining the child’s parents is a matter of family law.

“It also leads to all types of custody questions once you start watching who the parents are and if the child grew up by the biological parents or the parents who brought and gave birth to the child,” Bertram said.

“He only becomes such a nightmare.”

Bertram said that all the parents involved could be entitled to “very significant” compensation if they begin a legal action and other family members can also launch requests.

“From a legal point of view, even the impact of this is almost incomprehensible; this is not something for which someone can simply make a request and potentially exceeds,” he said.

“Biological families, the birth family, for the rest of their lives, every time something comes like Mother’s Day or Christmas … From a psychological point of view, it is something that is really difficult to measure.”

The lawyer of the creation of the Sarah Jefford family he told the ABC The case could constitute a legal precedent.

“There are presumptions in Australia on the fact that the parents of birth are the child’s legal parents,” he said.

“But if genetic parents want to come forward and start a discussion about it, then we will have to wait and see.”

Dr. Hugh Breikey, Senior research in moral philosophy and deputy director of the Griffith University Institute for Ethics, Governance and Law, said that the situation was equivalent to an “incredible ethical tangle”.

“It will end up being a parents’ decision and we can only hope that it is made in a truly considered and reflective way,” said Breakey.

“It is one of those cases in which we have two statements that are both in legitimate face, but both cannot be made. Sometimes we have to climb over and say that it is not about what we are due, it is what this child is due and we must do the best thing for them.”

The case created a considerable concern among the people conceived by donors, including many who have made pressure for stronger dissemination laws and other protections such as a national register.

In 2024, Monash Ivf has reached an agreement of $ 56 million With over 700 former patients after embryos they were destroyed due to alleged defective genetic screening.

The class action said that about 35% of the embryos found abnormal was normal.

The company confirmed that he had reached an agreement through mediation, but observed that he had not made any admission of responsibility.

Katherine Dawson, who estimates that could have up to 700 brothersThey said that parents whose children have been conceived through in vitro fertilization should look for DNA tests.

Dawson said the last situation may not have come to light but for Laws of Queensland This forced Monash to reveal the error.

“The proof that is an isolated accident is really just because they have never had to control or reveal,” Dawson said.

“One in 18 births are children conceived by in vitro fertilization, (e) if these checks and sales are lost recently last year, we must be more kept than the registers and more information.”

The main in vitro Australian fertilization specialist and former director of the IVf Monash, Prof Gab Kovacs, said that every year there were over 100,000 in vitro fertilization cycles in Australia, so every few years an error is made.

“There have been recognized errors in the past, it is more often that the wrong sperm is used when sperm and egg are put together,” Melbourne told ABC Radio.

“Certainly abroad, there have been recognized cases (of) the wrong embryo that is inserted.”

He said that rigorous processes are in place for decades, including a second person who signs every time a person manages the human tissue.

“I don’t think there is much more that it can be done (apart from) to accept that humans make mistakes,” said Kovacs.

He believed that no other similar case had been tested in court before.

The CEO of the IVF of Monash, Michael Knaap, apologized and said that the company would continue to support patients.

“All of us from Monash’s IVF are devastated and we apologize to all the subjects involved,” he said.

“We have embarked on additional audits and we are confident that it is an isolated accident.”

With Australian Associated Press reports