Woman gives birth to a stranger’s baby after being implanted with the wrong embryo in horror mix-up at IVF clinic
A horrific mix-up at one of Australia’s leading IVF clinics has resulted in a woman giving birth to a stranger’s baby.
The woman was mistakenly implanted with another couple’s embryo due to ‘human error’ at a Monash IVF clinic in Brisbane.
It’s thought to be the first such case in Australia where a baby was born after the wrong embryo was implanted.
It understood the baby was born last year.
But the bungle wasn’t discovered until February when the birth parents requested their remaining frozen embryos to be transferred to another IVF provider.
But instead of finding the expected number of embryos, an additional embryo remained in storage for the birth parents.
The two families impacted by the bungle are reportedly heartbroken and considering legal action, The Herald Sun reported.
The Melbourne-based fertility giant has issued an apology over mix-up, which was described as an isolated incident.
A horrific mix-up at a IVF clinic in Brisbane has resulted in a woman giving birth to a stranger’s baby (stock image)
The woman was mistakenly implanted with another couple’s embryo at a Monash IVF clinic (stock image)
‘On behalf of Monash IVF, I want to say how truly sorry I am for what has happened,’ chief executive Michael Knaap said in a statement to Daily Mail Australia.
‘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.’
He added that the clinic has since undertaken additional audits and is confident the mix-up was an isolated incident.
‘We are reinforcing all our safeguards across our clinics – we also commissioned an independent investigation and are committed to implementing its recommendations in full,’ Mr Knapp said.
The clinic acknowledged the public interest in the matter, but said ‘the privacy of the families involved – including the child – has been our priority.
‘The information we are providing now is being done in a deidentified way, with their knowledge,’ a spokesperson added.
‘Since becoming aware of the incident in February 2025, Monash IVF informed the affected patients and is continuing to support them.’
The incident has been disclosed to the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee and to the Queensland Assisted Reproductive Technology regulator.
‘Monash IVF adheres to strict laboratory safety measures to safeguard and protect the embryos in our care,’ the spokesperson said.
‘Despite these rigorous protocols, the initial investigation into the incident has found that it was the result of human error.’
The company’s CEO Michael Knaap (pictured) issued a grovelling apology for the mix-up
The incident has been disclosed to the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee and to the Queensland Assisted Reproductive Technology regulator. Stock image
Victorian Senior Counsel Barrister Fiona McLeod SC has been commissioned to conduct an independent investigation into the incident.
Monash IVF added it’s committed to implementing all recommendations.
Monash IVF would not confirm which family is raising the baby at the centre of the case.
Last year, the Monash IVF Group agreed to pay $56million to hundreds of families whose healthy embryos may have been destroyed in embryo screening tests.
The class action involved more than 700 patients who were affected by inaccurate genetic screening.
The two families impacted by the bungle are reportedly heartbroken and considering legal action (stock image)
Monash IVF acknowledged the public interest in the matter, but said ‘the privacy of the families involved – including the child – has been our priority’
The latest scandal involving an IVF clinic follows a widescale cyber attack in February which may have leaked the information of thousands of patients.
Genea chief executive Tim Yeoh informed past and present patients that a breach by an ‘unauthorised third party’ has accessed its data, after being notified of suspicious activity on its network.
The company, which is one of Australia’s top three IVF providers with 21 clinics across the country, took some of its systems offline as it investigated the hack.
