Medical mistakes

Lifestyle Relationships
1

i remember reading news articles a few years back where some British couple had tried IVF (i think it was IVF). There happened to be a ‘mix-up’ at the lab. In essence, what happened was that the father’s sperm got switched with someone else’s. The original British couple was Caucasian; the other British father was black. The original couple had twin boys, one of whom was blondhaired and blue eyed like his mother, and the other twin had much darker coloured skin and hair and different facial features, similar to his biological father. The couple had decided they wanted to keep both sons. i don’t remember whether or not they got to keep both however, because i think the ‘other’ father wanted some sort of custody as well…maybe just visitation rights. They showed pictures of the original family… back then, i really couldn’t get over how ‘different’ that black son looked in the family. Would he be ostracized by other family members as a result of this? Would he be accepted by the father’s side of the family - with whom he really shares no biological connection (technically speaking, not intending to sound crude here, sorry).

i am just wondering in cases like this - what would others decide? Does the other black British father have any legal rights for custody for his biological son - and if so how far should those rights go?

2

I remember the case, can't recall the outcome though. But it reminds me of another case more recently in the UK where a woman had IVF treatment which was unsuccessful but the clinic had frozen a few extra embryos. Anyway the woman left her husband and 'became' a lesbian. SO the two woman went to court because they wanted rights to be implanted with the aforementioned frozen embryo.

3

[QUOTE]
Originally posted by shahreen: *
**But it reminds me of another case more recently in the UK where a woman had IVF treatment which was unsuccessful but the clinic had frozen a few extra embryos. Anyway the woman left her husband and 'became' a lesbian. SO the two woman went to court because they wanted rights to be implanted with the aforementioned frozen embryo.
[/QUOTE]
*

i kindof remember that story, or something similar to that. In that case, i think that the woman wasn't right to do that - at the very least, not without the husband's permission. When the children are eventually born, i am sure she would not allow the husband any visitation rights (because afterall, she was the one to leave him). What if the husband wants to see and know his biological children ? Creates a very messy situation for all parties concerned. She should have just adopted in that case, i think.

4

dont they make people sign waivers and all which have an agreement from both spouses on what to do in the event of death of one, or both or a divorce etc, or even if they are not going to use the embryos.

kinda like a pre-nup almost

5

They do have them now, i think. Back when i read this article (feels like a long time ago but not certain about that) i don't think they did... i think it was right at the beginning of all this invitro fertilization stuff. i'm sure they have drawn up contracts etc now, but back then in the pre-litigation era when IVF was relatively more new - i don't think they really did. At least not that i'm aware of.

i'm just wondering if any of us were in the same position, hypothetically speaking of course... it's difficult to state what one would do without being in the situation. Hypothetically speaking though just for the sake of this little thread, what would we do if we were in that situation - keep the baby or return him/her to the biological father? What if even the biological father doesn't want the baby? Give it up for adoption?

6

^ hmm interesting...

if the baby's biological father doesnt want the baby, i would be more than happy to keep the baby as my own. When u think about it.. the baby has half the father's and half the mothers gene's.. so the baby would be as much yours as the biological father's... right?

what a tricky situation... can u just imagine all the religious figures condemning IVF after this?

7

**

Sadzzz :flower1: How are you doing? Haven’t chatted with you in a thread for a while. :smiley:

True, the baby IS as much mine as the biological father’s (i’m just using a hypothetical example here obviously). But what if the baby is facially “different” - i hate sounding this crude and crass, but what if the baby doesn’t have similar facial features. i mean to say, what if the biological father happened to be African? Or in our case, what if the biological father happened to be Caucasian? Can you imagine how the child would struggle to fit in with the rest of the community as s/he grows older. Lots of comments would be passed regarding the baby and the parents… what sort of ‘things’ was the mother involved in, how did this “really” happen, etc. Those are all the worst-case scenarios, but i wouldn’t want the child to be ostracized by the community… Bad enough you bring a child into this type of world, but then subjecting the child to insults/whispered gossipings for the rest of her/his life… :frowning:

Anyways that’s all in the absolute worst-case scenario.

Yes, i fully agree, i think there would be some condemnation of IVF. i know relatives very well, who are trying it though. i guess medical “mistakes” can happen anytime, to anyone.

8

This is an old article, but related to this thread:

IVF mix-up heads for court, BBC, 8 July 2002

A judge may have to decide what happens to black twins born to a white couple after an apparent blunder at an IVF clinic.

It is possible that sperm from a black patient was used in error to fertilise eggs from the white woman, or that an embryo was implanted in the wrong woman.

Neither the people involved nor the clinic can be named, and a court hearing has been scheduled for October to consider the legal status of the babies. It is thought the couple want to keep the twins.

The case has prompted calls - including one from Labour peer and fertility expert Lord Winston - for tighter regulation to prevent a recurrence in the future.

The couple went to the fertility clinic for IVF treatment after trying unsuccessfully for years to have a child. IVF involves mixing sperm from the man and eggs from the woman together in the laboratory, before they are placed in the woman. When the babies were born, the couple noticed that they were clearly dark-skinned, and suspected that something had gone wrong.

A source at the NHS trust in question, which cannot be named, told the Sun: “Great steps have been taken to ensure that this sort of thing never happens. It must be a one in a million chance. The big problem now is, who are the real parents of the twins?”

IVF, or in vitro fertilisation, is used by about 27,000 couples a year in Britain. Fertility expert Dr Mohammed Taranissi, director of the Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre in London, told the BBC that such a mistake could not happen regularly. He said: "It is extremely unlikely because there are always double checks at every step of the way.

“Insemination, checking for eggs, putting embryos back are always checked by two people just to make sure that these kind of incidents do not happen.” He said there were three possible explanations.

The first was human error, which is rare, but it can happen. The second could be that the couple themselves used donated sperm, eggs or embryos. However, in these cases clinics try to match up with the physical characteristics of the couple. Thirdly, it was possible that the couple had passed on a genetic disorder to their children that had resulted in a change to their skin pigmentation. However, this is again unlikely.

Dr Sammy Lee, of the Portland Hospital in London, said patients should not be alarmed. But he said: “It should not be a surprise to people because we know that human error can always occur.”

Professor Ian Craft, director of the London Fertility Centre, said mistakes have been made before. He said it was probably time for the regulatory body to consider tighter rules. "I have been aware of a situation at another centre whereby one couple received the wrong sperm from someone from a different ethnic group.

“I fear that they might now be recommending that we have an extra layer of administration, but perhaps we should - we just cannot afford to have these things happen.”

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, of the British Medical Association, said that legally the woman who carries a child is the mother, regardless of its genetic inheritance.

An American mother, Donna Fasano of New York, gave birth to another couple’s baby in 1998. Ms Fasano, who is white, gave birth to a black child and a judge ordered that she should hand the infant over to his biological parents. In Holland, suspicions were raised when a woman called Wilma Stuart, who is white, gave birth to dark-skinned twins in 1993.

DNA tests showed the hospital had mistakenly mixed sperm from her husband with that of a black man from the Dutch Antilles. She kept the twins.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said inspections were regularly carried out to ensure that clinics met standards set out in its code of practice. “Clinical and scientific inspectors check that clinics have procedures in place to double-check the identification of the individuals undergoing treatment, the sperm and eggs at the time of insemination and the embryos and the patient at the time of embryo transfer.”

9

hey Nadia :wave: salamz… i know we havent taken over a thread in awhile hehe

in regards to the ur worst case scenario hehe.. as in the child looking caucasian… hmm i would still keep the child.. sometimes our own children can turn out deformed or diabled.. and u know the desi community, they’ll still talk about it… all sorts of bad things.. (ie my friends scenario where her daughter has a disabililty.. and a lot of people are blaming the cousin-cousin marriage system).. no one will ever stop talking even if the IVF procedure turned out fine..

in a case like this, i think you need to block out the community and think about what you really want.. and think about what the child wants. If the father is not willing to accept the child, then take the child as your own.. and when the child is a bit mature, talk about it… i think