TV Review: The Wrong Sperm, Destroyed Embryos, and the Fight Against the IVF Giants

Lately, I struggle to watch the news. My human rights law job means my working hours are a buffet of political chaos, existential catastrophes and human misery. My spare time thus entails a retreat to the soft, safe and blissfully ignorant land of culinary competitions and comedies (admittedly with an occasional ludicrously-premised dating show).

I give that context because a news report on IVF failings was not my idea of must-see TV.

However, it was my assignment as a BioNews writer. Dutifully, I loaded the clip. I then saw the 45:40 run time and was immediately apprehensive. I was resigned to being spoon-fed from the usual special news feature menu: dry neutral recital of facts, unreadable pop-up slides of evidence and perhaps an expert panel.

Instead, I was treated to a master class on the importance of compelling investigative journalism.

This ABC News In-Depth documentary 'The wrong sperm, destroyed embryos, and the fight against the IVF giants' builds on stories which broke in Australia last year about families who had accessed IVF, only to be devastated by clinical errors. The story, brought to life by Grace Tobin was particularly worrisome because one in 18 births in Australia occurs with the assistance of IVF.

The documentary features four main stories. The first part centres on Anastasia and Lexie Gunn, two mothers who are suing the Queensland Fertility Group, a clinic owned by Virtus Health (see BioNews 1245). The second part focuses on two families: Sophie and Amelia Hawkshaw and Vikky Muller. Both families chose the public health route through Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, but the hospital outsources its lab work to a private company, Genea. Both families successfully retrieved eggs and produced healthy embryos. Both families were crushed when a lab mistake contaminated and ultimately destroyed all embryos. Genea refused to provide any information to the families about the nature of the mistake.

The third part features Katherine Dawson; conceived by IVF and discovered her biological father was a serial donor. After the clinics failed to check or verify his identification, he donated under seven names. Dawson estimates that she has up to 700 half-siblings. The clinics were owned by two of Australia's largest IVF providers: Monash IVF and Melbourne IVF (owned by Virtus Health). They have also failed to assist.

The closing piece focuses on Danielle Patorniti and two other single mothers who relied on Queensland Fertility Group. Their stories mirror the Gunns', providing a tragic bookend to this tale of corporate greed. Their stories also involve children being conceived using the same sperm donor. All four have since been diagnosed with the same health conditions and disabilities. Queensland Fertility Group failed to notify the families of these health conditions, even though they had knowledge of the potential health complications that might arise in offspring of this donor from years earlier.

Broadly this documentary tells a tale as old as industrialism: underdogs standing up against corporate greed, which caused them unimaginable loss. Yet they persist against systemic resistance and fight for corporate accountability.

Each story is delivered in an intimate manner. Viewers are invited into family homes. Conversations are set on the living room couch. Visuals rely on classic images: sisters making dinner, mums prepping for the school run, and gathering around a kitchen table. The softness of the stories juxtaposes against the hard truth. Viewers are invited into private moments of family breakdowns and sobs. Factual slides inform the audience how corporate greed forced regular folk into a bureaucratic nightmare. The message is clear: systems that fail must be held accountable.

I appreciated the importance of the message, but something was missing. The story's subjects were homogenous. Each of the main characters was a middle-class white woman or family. There was a discussion about mistakes occurring in both private and public care, hinting at potential socioeconomic and class-barriers. However, there was no discussion about the impact of race, disability or any other protected characteristic.

Reporters cannot cherry-pick their facts. However, the probability of medical racism, ableism and classism mixed with the sheer prevalence of IVF in Australia means that devastating stories are still screaming to be told. There may have been investigations behind the scenes, but it felt odd to have stock footage of diverse babies without real and meaningful representation.

Ultimately, I would recommend the video. It was an important and interesting watch. The stories are equal part infuriating and heartbreaking. You are reminded that behind every factual statistic – there are people.

While the end screen feels stark, the story continued after the credits rolled. On 10 September 2024, Queensland passed new legislation to better regulate the assisted reproductive industry (see BioNews 1256). In addition, following the report, the Queensland Fertility Group was audited and the Health Ombudsman published a 'confronting report' highlighting key issues in the collection, storage and identification along with recommendations (see BioNews 1246). The result is too little, too late and does not cure the pain already caused. But it is start. It is a reminder of the power of the people, and the need for a press that can hold organisations to account.