Mother gives birth to other couples' babies because of an IVF mix-up

[ConfessionsOfTeenageDramaQueen]

Not sure if this has been posted already. Terribly sad story.

"The mother, who is Asian, gave birth to two non-Asian babies, and each child was a genetic match to a different couple that was also a client at the fertility clinic, the lawsuit states. The Asian couple was then forced to give up the babies to their true genetic parents."

edition.cnn.com/2019/07/07/us/ivf-baby-wrong-lawsuit/index.html

Oh my! This is awful! I have nothing constructive to add but I'm so horrified by the whole thing. Poor poor woman.

Yikes!!!

Poor, woman!

This, BTW, is one of the reasons I'm against the whole surrogacy idea - I don't think you should be able to sign a contract that states that babies you gestate in your body aren't yours. She grew those babies from a microscopic egg. They are her babies. It should be her choice whether she gives them up or not.

Yup, buttery, that's why I thought i'd post it here - making her give up the babies seems really wrong (even though I of course understand how complicated this case is) and would seem to have repercussions for surrogacy and potentially even adoption.

This is horrendous, that poor woman.

Horrendous situation

Was she forced to give up the babies? Other reports say that they chose to relinquish.

Awful for the couple either way....

That’s horrendous. I’m not sure if I agree with Buttery or not, but it’s a very sad situation all round.

I also didn’t realise it was possible to distinguish the sex of embryos. That’s a bit scary.

I also didn’t realise it was possible to distinguish the sex of embryos. That’s a bit scary.

It is! Doctors are obv going to implant more male embryos than female

So an Asian lady has accidentally been used as a surrogate for a white couple?

This is a desperately sad story, but I also fear there could have been an undercurrent of something else at play here.

Hang on, does that say the two babies aren't related either? So there's two sets of genetic parents and one birth mother (plus a man who has pretty much nothing to do with the babies)?

I also didn’t realise it was possible to distinguish the sex of embryos. That’s a bit scary

It seems justifiable when done to avoid a sex-specific genetic condition but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Once a thing (anything) becomes possible, someone out there WILL want to use it for nefarious reasons.

It is! Doctors are obv going to implant more male embryos than female

Because...?

It's awful, I think I would have just not said anything if it was me.

Snitzel the babies were a different race so obviously not theirs. This could have happened with same race couples and nobody would think anything of it. There was a mix up between a black couple and a white couple in the UK when i was pregnant with DS1 in 2002. There was even a TV drama made based on it. Can't actually remember the outcome

That poor woman. What a horrible predicament. Having her babies taken from her after gestating, birthing and bonding with them. It's utter cruelty. Makes me question the whole assisted conception industry. If they got to keep the twins and the genetic parents were unsuccessful in their own ivf then the genetic parents would be devestated. Imagine someone else giving birth to your genetic child when you have been unable to do so

Either decision leaves a couple devestated. I take it legally the babies were not hers? In the UK they would be.

Article about the UK case. Different situation here as couple A's egg was fertilised with couple B's sperm. Babies stayed with couple A. It's a mess but I think it was right decision to keep them with the mother.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1412306/Our-turmoil-by-couple-in-IVF-mix-up.html

PGD on embryos makes it possible to distinguish between female and male embryos due to the presence of of Y chromosomes.

Many couples, particularly in Asia, opt for Male only embryos.

What a nightmarish scenario. I cannot imagine the shock and horror for the poor woman who was deceived. What happened to their own embryos? Will all of this clinics patients who have already taken home their babies have to worry about this issue now? It doesn’t bear thinking about.

If want a shit ton of compensation for being forced to become a surrogate against my will. Not that it would help but I'd be out for blood.

snuggy me too! Money won't make up for the mistake her but the clinic need to be penalised big bucks. And then shut down.

Very sad. Does she know if her eggs were implanted into somebody else and if so, were they miscarried or does she have a child out there, somewhere? Hope the clinic are giving her a lot of free treatment to try again and again until they has a childown.

I think the worst stories of these mx ups have been when they have used the egg from one couple and the sperm from another couple - two couples that wouldn’t have ever met in real life that end up sharing a child. And if that wasn’t bad enough who would the child live with, make decisions on things like religion if from two different faiths, schooling and so on. Sad stuff.

Yes she should have a multi million dollar lawsuit. Totally and utterly unforgivable. The stuff of nightmares.

Interview with one of the parents of the children in the LA Times:

Here's the key bit @Mumoftwoyoungkids: "The woman who birthed the Manukyans’ son in New York and her partner wanted to keep custody, the Glendale couple said. But the judge granted custody to the Manukyans, and 11 days after their arrival in New York, on May 13, they flew home to Los Angeles holding their son, Alec, the court filing says."

Link: www.latimes.com/la-me-glendale-fertility-clinic-lawsuit-20190710-story.html

Thanks Confessions

It’s very sad.

SonicVersusGynaephobia I agree that there might be something else at play

You know doctors can be quite misogynistic (understatement) Well... bear with me... you know also that doctors who are involved in Sperm donation tend to use their own sperm instead of random men's donor sperm, impregnating sometimes 50 women or more with their own Sperm ( you can google this, happens all the time).
Well, what if, jus throwing it out there, what if the doctor involved in this cock up did it on purpose because he's a misogynist who likes playing god.

Doctors do shit for no reason all the time like that doctor a few years ago who gave hundreds of women unnecessary mastectomies just for the fun of it