Monash IVF to compensate families affected by embryo mix-up

An Australian fertility provider has agreed to pay compensation to families affected by two serious embryo mix-ups at its clinics.

Monash IVF apologised after the incidents, which occurred at separate clinics in Brisbane and Melbourne, and confirmed it has agreed to settle claims from the affected families for undisclosed sums.

'We deeply regret the events from 2025 and have taken significant steps to strengthen our safety culture and enhance oversight across all sites,' Monash IVF said, according to ABC News. 'Patients can be confident that we have learned from these events and taken decisive steps to ensure our systems are as rigorous and robust as possible... We have also worked closely with the regulator to ensure our systems meet and, where possible, exceed required standards and community expectations,' they added.

In 2025 it emerged that a woman had given birth to a genetically-unrelated child after another patient's embryo was transferred at Monash's Brisbane clinic in 2023 (see BioNews 1285). The woman and her partner only found out about the mix-up when they discovered they still had their original number of embryos in storage.

A few months later, at the group's Melbourne clinic, a patient's own embryo was transferred instead of her partner's during what was intended to be a reciprocal (also called shared motherhood) IVF cycle (see BioNews 1293).

Monash's chief executive officer Michael Knapp resigned following the incidents, which sparked calls for a national review of the sector and for an independent body to oversee it.

An independent review looking into both incidents, conducted by lawyer Fiona McLeod, concluded that the incidents were attributable to human error in both cases, plus 'IT systems limitations' in the second case (see BioNews 1303). Monash did not publicly release more specific findings from the investigation, citing patient privacy, a decision that was criticised by the Australian health minister Mark Butler.

However, the company has since confirmed that it had implemented many of the recommendations from that independent review and its own internal investigation, including 'additional verification processes and patient confirmation safeguards, over and above normal practice and electronic witnessing systems.'