Israeli woman carrying unrelated fetus following IVF mix-up

Treatment has been suspended at a fertility clinic in Israel after it was discovered a woman pregnant following treatment there, is carrying a fetus neither she or her partner is genetically related to.

The Assuta Medical Centre in Rishon LeZion, Israel informed the Israeli Health Ministry on 14 September 2022 that it had carried out a genetic test on a woman in her third trimester of pregnancy, who had an embryo transfer following IVF there, and found her fetus was not genetically related to her. The Centre launched an investigation to determine who the genetic parents of the fetus are, and stopped accepting IVF patients, though news reports have suggested the Ministry ordered that treatment was suspended at the clinic pending its own investigation.

'The incident is being looked into. Senior doctors from Assuta are following the case. The Health Ministry was immediately notified of the incident,' Assuta Medical Centre said in a statement, Times of Israel reported.

First the Centre claimed it had narrowed down the potential genetic parents of the fetus to 40 patients, then ten, and then announced it had contacted the women it believed was the most likely genetic mother of the embryo on 17 September 2022. It is unclear if the embryo that was meant to be transferred has been located.

While previous embryo mix-ups have occurred, this is the first case of its kind to be recorded in Israel where the discovery has been made before birth.

A recent case in Massachusetts , saw a woman chose to terminate her pregnancy at six months, days before it would have become illegal to do so, upon discovering the embryo transferred during IVF was not her own (see BioNews 1140). The discovery had been made following an NIPT test for chromosomal abnormalities, and the couple decided to terminate the pregnancy fearing a custody battle once the child was born. Similar cases in other countries, such as Italy (see BioNews 767), have seen custody awarded to the genetic parents, or the affected couples choosing to exchange babies after the discovery of an embryo mix-up after birth (see BioNews 1121).