Couple sue clinic over third baby

A UK couple who had triplets following fertility treatment at the Sheffield Fertility Clinic have won their claim for compensation equal to the cost of bringing up the third baby. Patricia and Peter Thompson say they only wanted one or two babies and they agreed with clinic staff that only two IVF embryos would be implanted in Mrs Thompson's womb.

The couple, who began IVF treatment after trying for a baby for five years, sued the private clinic for breach of contract on the grounds that an extra embryo had been implanted against their wishes. Mrs Thompson claims that at the time of implantation, she was given just ten minutes to decide whether two or three embryos should be replaced - even though she had previously stated her preference for two. The triplets, two boys and a girl, were born in March 1997. The couple later unexpectedly conceived a fourth child naturally, a baby girl born in 1998.

At the High Court in Sheffield last week, Mr Justice Hooper accepted the Thompsons' evidence, concluding that 'the claimant has shown on the balance of probabilities that she did not agree to the replacement of three embryos'. Dr Gillian Lockwood, a member of the ethics committee of the British Fertility Society, said that decisions on the number of embryos should be reached early in the treatment, as leaving such decisions until the last moment puts far too much emotional strain on prospective mothers. She also said that 'as a rule of thumb', if a woman is under 37 and the embryos are of good quality, no more than two should be replaced.

The clinic has since changed its procedures - according to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, it would now routinely replace two embryos, and three only if the chances of success were very small.