Israeli court orders genetic test of fetus after embryo mix-up

Genetic testing of fetal tissue has been ordered by the Lod District Court, Israel, to determine who its genetic parents are before it is born. 

Last month a genetic test carried out on a woman in her third trimester of pregnancy revealed that neither she nor her husband is genetically related to the fetus she is carrying (see BioNews 1160). She had conceived following fertility treatment at the Assuta Medical Centre in Rishon LeZion, Israel, which reported the embryo mix-up to the health ministry on 14 September 2022 when it was first discovered. The clinic has failed to confirm who the genetic parents of the fetus are, and genetic testing of fetal tissue already procured was ordered by the court on Wednesday 19 October in order to assist in determining this.

'If the test results are positive – meaning the embryo is not genetically linked to the woman who is carrying the pregnancy to term, it will make her a surrogate without her consent and surrogacy is a process that requires consent,' Victoria Gelfand, a lawyer with experience in surrogacy cases told YNet News.

'You cannot revoke parental status from a woman who gave birth, without the woman's consent. The fact that the woman is connected to the baby by virtue of the fact that she carried the child through pregnancy and birth, must also be taken into account,' she explained.