A woman undergoing fertility treatment became pregnant with the wrong embryos after what appears to be a clinic error.


The unidentified Italian woman was being treated at a fertility clinic in Rome. The mistake wasn't discovered until she was three months pregnant, with twins.

Via Raw Story:

The mistake happened on December 4, when four different couples were receiving treatment at a specialist fertility unit at the Sandro Pertini Hospital in Rome, La Stampa newspaper reported. It is not clear whether the mistake led to any of the other women becoming pregnant with the wrong baby. Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin said Sunday investigators would look at whether the hospital had "respected all the legal procedures" and expressed concern that she had only learned about the mistake through press reports. "The national standards on assisted fertilization, which are based on European directives, are very rigorous, and if applied correctly, guarantee the traceability of all biological material used in the reproduction process," she said.


Italy's health ministry is investigating how the embryos were mixed up and has barred the clinic from any further embryo implantation for the time being.