Fertility clinics make 600 IVF blunders in just a year
RECORD numbers of mistakes are being made at fertility clinics for couples undergoing IVF.
In the past year there have been more than 600 blunders, including one woman who was given the wrong donor sperm.
There are 134 fertility clinics in the UK, with more than half providing paid private treatment to those trying for a baby.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which oversees the sector, reported a record 606 incidents at clinics in 2018-19.
These include two of the most serious ‘grade A’ incidents, including a couple who wanted a biological sibling for their first child being given the wrong donor sperm.
The second incident saw 11 embryos, likely to have been used to make a baby, having to be destroyed because the wrong gas cylinder was used to supply an incubator. Problems at clinics are relatively rare – but have risen 18 per cent in the three years since records began in 2015-16.
Sally Cheshire, head of the HFEA, said: ‘The number of incidents reported remains low at less than 1 per cent of all treatment cycles, while the number of treatment cycles has increased over the years. We understand that any mistake, no matter how big or small, is of concern.’
The latest HFEA report shows multiple births – the biggest risk to mothers and babies from IVF – have reached an all-time low, making up only one in ten births.
But errors are at their highest rate since the HFEA started publicly publishing the reports in 2015-16. There had not previously been two grade A incidents involving ‘severe harm’ in any year during this period. The proportion of ‘grade B’ incidents involving serious or moderate harm is also on the rise – although it may be the case that clinics are getting better at reporting errors.
A report of one major error explains how a couple at Simply Fertility in Essex tried to give their first IVF child a biological sibling. They were given the wrong donor sperm, so their second child will only be a half-sibling to their first.
The mistake was discovered on November 23, 2018 – the day after the embryo had been placed in the mother’s womb. The second error, at Barts Health Centre for Reproductive Medicine in London, saw 11 couples lose their embryos after an incorrect gas cylinder, containing helium, was hooked up to the incubator containing them.
A spokesman for Simply Fertility said they had apologised to the couple. A Barts Health NHS Trust spokesman said the patients affected were offered counselling.
The HFEA said that, overall, it believes fertility treatment is becoming safer, with the quality of care improving across UK clinics.
Around 80 per cent of clinics have been given a full licence, confirming most are meeting standards and performing well.
‘Overall, treatment becoming safer’