- Joined
- Jan 23, 2010
- Messages
- 1,746
- Points
- 0
IVF baby mix-up rattles local fertility industry
NEVER have the words 'sperm' and 'in-vitro fertilisation' been so openly and thoroughly discussed by Singaporeans in public.
Last month, The Straits Times broke the story of a baby born following an IVF mix-up that rocked the fertility industry. The case led to a review of all 10 fertility clinics in Singapore.
Two days after the story broke, the Ministry of Health (MOH) suspended the clinic where the mix-up had happened - Thomson Fertility Clinic (TFC) - from performing assisted reproductive procedures. TFC is still under suspension.
It took MOH a few days to discover what had gone wrong, but the couple said they knew almost immediately.
When the baby was born in October, the couple - a Chinese Singaporean woman and her Caucasian husband - saw that the newborn's complexion was markedly different from theirs.
A DNA test the same month confirmed their doubts: The baby has the mother's DNA, but not the father's. They hired a lawyer and wrote to the clinic and MOH seeking an explanation for the error.
Investigations discovered 'lapses in procedural protocol and human error'. In other words, someone at the clinic had become careless, skipped a step and contaminated the sperm sample.
It was just as well that the Government looked into the laboratories of the country's nine other clinics, too.
Two, namely O&G Partners Fertility Centre and Gleneagles IVF Centre, were found to be not complying with procedural standards.
Neither had a second person to counter-check each step of the transfer of semen specimens.
The two clinics, as well as TFC, have since stepped up their controls to prevent similar mix-ups in the future.
TFC's medical director, Dr Cheng Li Chang, has expressed remorse and contrition over the centre's mistake.
He said on Nov 4: '(We) fully empathise with the couple, and are very sorry and distressed over what has happened.'
In another statement to The Straits Times last week, he added: 'We will continue to work hard to earn our patients' confidence and trust.'
The story has a happy ending, however.
The couple have decided to keep the baby.
Their lawyer said they had bonded with the baby, and that 'what is uppermost in their minds is the welfare of the child'.
The baby might have come from sperm from the wrong person, but there's no mistaking it has found the right family.
YEN FENG
NEVER have the words 'sperm' and 'in-vitro fertilisation' been so openly and thoroughly discussed by Singaporeans in public.
Last month, The Straits Times broke the story of a baby born following an IVF mix-up that rocked the fertility industry. The case led to a review of all 10 fertility clinics in Singapore.
Two days after the story broke, the Ministry of Health (MOH) suspended the clinic where the mix-up had happened - Thomson Fertility Clinic (TFC) - from performing assisted reproductive procedures. TFC is still under suspension.
It took MOH a few days to discover what had gone wrong, but the couple said they knew almost immediately.
When the baby was born in October, the couple - a Chinese Singaporean woman and her Caucasian husband - saw that the newborn's complexion was markedly different from theirs.
A DNA test the same month confirmed their doubts: The baby has the mother's DNA, but not the father's. They hired a lawyer and wrote to the clinic and MOH seeking an explanation for the error.
Investigations discovered 'lapses in procedural protocol and human error'. In other words, someone at the clinic had become careless, skipped a step and contaminated the sperm sample.
It was just as well that the Government looked into the laboratories of the country's nine other clinics, too.
Two, namely O&G Partners Fertility Centre and Gleneagles IVF Centre, were found to be not complying with procedural standards.
Neither had a second person to counter-check each step of the transfer of semen specimens.
The two clinics, as well as TFC, have since stepped up their controls to prevent similar mix-ups in the future.
TFC's medical director, Dr Cheng Li Chang, has expressed remorse and contrition over the centre's mistake.
He said on Nov 4: '(We) fully empathise with the couple, and are very sorry and distressed over what has happened.'
In another statement to The Straits Times last week, he added: 'We will continue to work hard to earn our patients' confidence and trust.'
The story has a happy ending, however.
The couple have decided to keep the baby.
Their lawyer said they had bonded with the baby, and that 'what is uppermost in their minds is the welfare of the child'.
The baby might have come from sperm from the wrong person, but there's no mistaking it has found the right family.
YEN FENG
