Inquiry into missing embryos launched

The Department of Health has launched an inquiry after reports last week that frozen embryos have gone missing at two UK fertility clinics. Ten couples attending the North Hampshire Hospital have been affected, but no figures are yet available for the nearby private Hampshire Clinic, which shares its storage facilities in Basingstoke. The mix-up means that some couples may have to begin their treatment again, rather than using frozen embryos in further IVF (in vitro fertilisation) cycles.

The problems came to light after staff at the Hampshire Clinic discovered that several glass straws containing frozen embryos had gone missing. An inspector from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) found that paperwork for some frozen embryos was missing, and that other records contained discrepancies. The clinic alerted the North Hampshire Hospital, where a senior embryologist has since been suspended on full pay.

One of the patients involved in the mix-up contacted the Sun newspaper, which last week claimed that up to 80 women patients could have become pregnant with embryos from an unrelated couple. But a spokesperson from the Hampshire Clinic said there was 'no question' that any embryo had been either fertilised with the wrong sperm or implanted in the wrong mother. However, the clinic has offered to carry out DNA tests to confirm the identity of the children of any worried parents.

A spokesman for the HFEA said that although the authority were still very concerned about the missing embryos, the Sun story had needlessly upset a lot of people. He added that the risk of people giving birth to the wrong babies was 'negligible'.