Last week the Telegraph broke the news that the Homerton Fertility Centre had been reported to the police and that the fertility regulator, the HFEA had suspended the clinic's licence.
It is not clear exactly what has happened at the clinic but the regulator is now carrying out an investigation. It has, however, been reported that 153 embryos from 45 patients are thought to have been affected.
PET director, Sarah Norcross issued two quotes to the media.
Here are her quotes in full.
'The Homerton Fertility Centre has an inspection rating of 4/5 from the UK fertility regulator – the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority – which last inspected the clinic in February 2023, and extended the clinic's licence until 2026.
'It needs to be established, via thorough investigation, what has gone wrong at the clinic since last year's inspection. This is necessary so that we can understand what has happened, and so that we can make sure it does not happen anywhere else.
'Patients informed that their embryos might be lost will be devasted by this news. Some of these patients may fear that they have lost their chance to become parents. How these patients will be compensated remains to be seen.'
and
'Patients affected by what has happened deserve a prompt explanation, from the clinic and/or the HFEA, of what exactly has gone wrong. The longer this takes, the greater the speculation and the greater the distress.
'In the meantime, patients affected should be offered the opportunity for fertility treatment elsewhere, at no added expense to them, as soon as possible so that their chances of having a family are not further reduced.'
The Telegraph used these quotes in two separate articles.
You can read more about this story in BioNews. PET will, of course, be publishing more about this problem at the Homerton Fertility Centre as the story develops.
