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Woman pregnant with wrong embryos in IVF mix-up

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An IVF clinic in Rome is at the centre of a controversy after it was discovered that one patient is carrying another couple's twin embryos.

The unnamed mother-to-be underwent IVF treatment at Rome's Sandro Pertini Hospital in December last year when the mistake happened.

As reported in La Stampa newspaper yesterday, the clinic was treating four couples on the same day when the error occurred. It was not discovered until March 27 when Rome's local health authority became aware of an issue with "genetic incompatibility". However, by this time the woman was already more than three months pregnant.

At this stage it is unclear whether any of the other women treated that day were impregnated with the wrong embryos. Italy's health ministry announced that they have launched an investigation into the incident.

The investigation will be run by geneticist, Giuseppe Novelli, and will explore whether there were any other mistakes made with embryos at the clinic.

Italy's Health Minister, Beatrice Lorenzin, who only learned of the error from local press reports, said they will also be reviewing the hospital's legal procedures.

Lorenzin told La Stampa, "The national standards on assisted fertilisation, which are based on European directives, are very rigorous, and if applied correctly, guarantee the traceability of all biological material used in the reproduction process."

In the meantime, further embryo implantation at the Sandro Pertini Hospital have been put on hold.


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