couple suing obstetrician for implanting two embryos instead of the requested one

[ILovePudding]

This story makes me so .

www.smh.com.au/news/NATIONAL/Twins-mum-lost-capacity-to-love/2007/09/19/118988158 7967.html

The doctor's being sued because the couple had twins but only wanted one and the mother says she lost her capacity to love!

Shouldn't they just feel blessed that the technology was available to enable them to become parents?

Maybe they just see having a child like any other commodity and are miffed because they can't return the unwanted item .

With any procedure you are allowed to withdraw consent at any time before the procedure is under way. If this woman only wanted one embrio, then that is her choice.

If she said she only wanted one embrio and two were implanted, then the dr in question should be in serious trouble.

Not sure about suing though - how does one decide how much money would compensate for the loss of love?

I have made a choice not to have IVF to try to conceive a second child, and part of that choice is based on the possibility that I might conceive twins. Were I to conceive twins naturally though I would obviously have to accept that, but I can choose not to conceive twins through medical intervention.

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yes, its about 25% chance, down to 20% chance if you are as old as me!

In the Edinburgh clinice last year, though, one in three of their successful cycles ended in twins, so quite high chance of having them!

I don't understand the 'loss of capacity to love' either.

God knows that twins are hard work, but her inability to see past this and realise how lucky she is makes me think that she has all kinds of emotional issues and fears which would better be resolved through counselling rather than legal action.

It sounds like she's focusing on her anger at the mistake rather than dealing with the real issues - the money won't make her love the 'extra' child any more.

I think it grates with me as well because the children are now three. If she felt that strongly about having twins, why didn't she sue the doctor when she was pregnant?

It seems to me now their relationship is on the skids they want to blame someone else for it.

"The pair lost their functioning as a couple, becoming mired in the everyday task associated with raising two children".

Pretty much the same applies to all couples with children i think. I hope the twin she didn't want and wanted to abort never finds out the story when she is older.
Also why has it taken them 3 years to decide they are going to sue? Reading between the lines (and I'm probalby going out on a limb here and will get shot down) I think the non-birth mother is a bit jealous especially when reading the line above "lost their functioning as a couple". They would have lost it even if they only had one child surely as babies need and take up a lot of time and attention

I had twins just over a year ago now. I too become "mired in everyday tasks associated with raising two children."
(as I'm sure most parents of one child do) however I count myself very lucky that I was able to conceive and deliver 2 healthy babies. I agree that if you are in the unfortunate position of having to rely on ivf you should surely be grateful for any posotive outcome! how ridiculous that this has even made it to court... just goes to show what sort of world we now live in

There is something that feels so very wrong about this, and unusually for me, I can't figure out what it is.

Maybe it is just that the level of assumed control over the reproductive process is so high - choosing ivf to have a baby without a father, using sperm from a chosen foreign donor, wanting just the one child that would not affect the mother's relationship with her partner, and would not cause them to "become mired in everyday tasks"

It's very odd the she 'has lost the capacity to love'. Maybe she is suffering from depression?

I think they must have had unrealistic expectations of parenthood beforehand (I certainly did!) however I think it is wrong to sue. Those girls will be devestaded when they find out about this when they are older

yes I also thought maybe she has depression ans they are misguidedly looking for someone to blame.

When a man and woman go through ivf using donor sperm it is usually because he has fertility issues.

I am guessing that it could sometimes be difficult for anyone to make the transition to being parent to a child that is not biologically your own. Maybe more so if you are also a woman who could have carried the child or children.

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The Doc should have only planted the one if that is what they wanted but I feel they need to get a reality check. They are damn lucky to have had the chance to be parents and they should be counting their blessings.

I have a colleague who is undergoing IVF now - she is 40 and her much older DH is dying. She now wants a baby so she won't be alone when he passes away. Her DH has grown up children and grandchildren from a previous relationship. I get the same uneasy feeling about that and I am not sure exactly why. It seems unnatural to deliberately bring a child into the world without a father but at the same time my friend will probably be a great parent, most of the single parents I know are.

I suppose I am wondering if counselling should be mandatory before undergoing IVF? It might be for all I know. IIRC there is a higher risk of SN for IVF babies, surely a child with severe problems could potentially be harder work than twins?

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Upwind, I would have thought, if anything, that there was a lower risk of SN with IVF as they screen and put back what appears to be the healthiest embryos.

I think there's a slightly higher risk of SN such as CP following a multiple pregnancy, though probably more in the case of triplets.

I was sure I had heard that was a risk of IVF so I just checked wikipedia (I know it is not necessarily reliable but usually is a good starting point for stuff like this).

"The issue of birth defects remains a controversial topic in IVF. A majority of studies do not show a significant increase after use of IVF. Some studies suggest higher rates for ICSI , while others do not support this finding.[7] Major birth defect include chromosomal abnormalities, genetic imprinting defects, and multiple organ abnormalities. Hansen et al conducted a systematic review of published studies (including ICSI) and found a 30-40% increase risk of birth defects associated with assisted reproductive technology when compared to children born after spontaneous conception.[8] Possible explanations offered were the underlying cause of the infertility, factors associated with IVF/ICSI, culture conditions, and medications, however, the actual cause is not known."

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Here is the Hansen study abstract:

Assisted reproductive technologies and the risk of birth defects?a systematic review

"BACKGROUND: The risk of birth defects in infants born following assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment is a controversial question. Most publications examining the prevalence of birth defects in ICSI and IVF infants compared to spontaneously conceived infants have serious methodological limitations; despite this, most researchers have concluded that there is no increased risk. METHODS: We carried out a systematic review to identify all papers published by March 2003 with data relating to the prevalence of birth defects in infants conceived following IVF and/or ICSI compared with spontaneously conceived infants. Independent expert reviewers used criteria defined a priori to determine whether studies were suitable for inclusion in a meta-analysis. Fixed effects meta-analysis was performed for all studies and reviewer-selected studies. RESULTS: Twenty-five studies were identified for review. Two-thirds of these showed a 25% or greater increased risk of birth defects in ART infants. The results of meta-analyses of the seven reviewer-selected studies and of all 25 studies suggest a statistically significant 30?40% increased risk of birth defects associated with ART. CONCLUSIONS: Pooled results from all suitable published studies suggest that children born following ART are at increased risk of birth defects compared with spontaneous conceptions. This information should be made available to couples seeking ART treatment."

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That is interesting - as far as I was aware the only increased risk was due to the fact that most women undergoing IVF are "older" Mums therefore there is an increased risk of birth defects anyway IYSWIM.

I DID think there was a slightly increased risk when using ICSI though, as my friend who had ICSI was given a 20 week scan to check for abnormalities, which is not the norm in Lothian NHS (unfortunately).

The risk is fairly low in the first place so increasing that low risk by 30?40% is not as bad as it sounds...

I would prefer if they gave the figures in x per 1000 increasing to y per 1000.

sounds to me like the birth mother is suffering PND and they are looking for someone to blame! I have twins (not IVF) and I had PND and yes it made my relationship with DH fraught, but it';s what you go through as a parent, can almost 99% guarentee i would have been the same with one as 2. They were clearly not ready for kids, be it one or two, and are regretting it, as their cosy little life as a couple has been torn apart......

I read about this yesterday, it does make me feel very unfortable- I agree that if the dr ignored their wishes that he or she should face some kind of disciplinary, HOWEVER beyond that I feel it is the responsibility of every aprent to protect thir children- and dragging three year old through this is quite the opposite! I suspect they are old enough now to ahve some idea that they are not quite wanted- well, one isn't. I hope that's not the cse but if it is (and if there are parental love issues it could well be) then taking the legal action could actually imo be construed as abusive....

I do also feel that birth and parenting are always going to have elements beyond our control, how would they have coped with an sn child, or identical twins I wonder?

But my biggest concern is for the well being of the chidlren, and I hope that someone is stepping in to amke sure they don't become damaged by all this. I woudl think most aprents would put that before financial profit.

As for the mired in everyday taks

Har bloody har, welcome to parenthood.