Australian Woman Unknowingly Gives Birth To Stranger's Baby After IVF Error

Monash IVF, one of Australia’s biggest IVF providers, called it a “human error.”

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A woman in Australia unknowingly gave birth to a stranger’s baby after she received another patient’s embryo from her in vitro fertilization clinic due to “human error,” the clinic said.

The mix-up was discovered in February when the clinic in the city of Brisbane found that the birth parents had one too many embryos in storage, said the provider, Monash IVF, in a statement supplied Friday. Staff discovered an embryo from another patient had been mistakenly thawed and transferred to the birth mother, a spokesperson said.

Australia news outlets reported the baby was born in 2024. Monash IVF didn’t confirm how old the child was.

The company, one of Australia’s biggest IVF providers, said an initial investigation had not uncovered any other such errors. Its statement didn’t identify the patients involved or divulge details about the child’s custody.

“All of us at Monash IVF are devastated and we apologise to everyone involved,” said CEO Michael Knaap. “We will continue to support the patients through this extremely distressing time.”