‘Glitch’ caused ultrasound error: clinic
Expectant mothers given stock images
The Ontario company at the centre of allegations it scammed expectant mothers by sending them the same stock images of their unborn children says it’s all a mistake.
BabyView 3D Prenatal Imaging in Pickering, Ont., said the mix-up was the result of “a technical glitch with the printing services provided,” and claimed the issue had been resolved.
“BabyView is more than happy to adjust the situation and offer a re-scan of the services which were provided,” it said in a Facebook post.
But at least 12 women say they paid $163 for what turned out to be three-dimensional stock images and received inaccurate information about their child’s gender.
Among them was Jenn Cusimano, who was excited to share the ultrasound of her unborn child with a Facebook group for expectant moms on May 17, but was shocked when she discovered another woman uploaded a similar image.
“I took the two pictures and posted them side-by-side online,” she said. “They were identical.”
Several women described having the same experience at the clinic owned and operated by Mohsina Adeel Mir.
Cusimano reported the incident to police and created a Facebook group for the affected women after “getting message after message saying ‘These are my images, too.’ ”
A Facebook group set up for past BabyView customers, which had more than 1,000 members Thursday afternoon, featured parents saying their images duplicated others posted in the group.
Some members also said the gender information they were provided at their ultrasound appointments was wrong.
Amber Bowden said she was told she was having a boy, but became upset when the images on the screen were unclear. Feeling uneasy, she asked Adeel Mir for a better photo.
“I asked her to print out a photo with the male parts ... she would not do it.”
A recent hospital ultrasound revealed Bowden was, in fact, carrying a girl. When she called the company and asked for her money back, she was refused and offered another appointment instead.
Thursday morning, BabyView’s “Contact Us” section of its website said, “SORRY! due to technical issues we are unable to facilitate any customer at the moment.”
On the company’s webpage Adeel Mir is listed as a “registered medical sonographer” who holds a “university degree of medicine and as well as bachelor’s degree of surgery.”
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario said sonographers are not regulated in the province and “entertainment ultrasounds” can be conducted without a physician.