Title:A Mix-up During Assisted Reproductive Technique: What is in the Best Interest of the New-Born?
Volume: 17
Issue: 4
Author(s): Paola Frati, Simona Zaami, Raffaele La Russa, Enrica Pinchi and Francesco P. Busardò
Affiliation:
Keywords:
IVF mix-up, genetic parents, biological parents, assisted reproductive technique.
Abstract: A woman, after undergoing fertility treatment in hospital in Rome, became pregnant but
three months later she was informed that she was carrying he twins of another couple. The error had
gone unnoticed until the mother had a genetic test revealing that neither she nor her husband were the
genetic parents. In December 2013 an embryo exchange took place, because embryos belonging to one
couple, who had undergone a treatment of homologous fertilization, were erroneously implanted in
another woman’s uterus. This other couple had undertaken the same kind of treatment. The genetic parents urgently appealed
to stop the new-born registration practices and to give the newborn twins to their genetic parents. On August 8th,
2014, the Civil Court of Rome issued a judgement, which rejected the appeal, stating that the uterine mother and her husband
must be considered the legal parents of the twins. In the present paper, the Authors will explore the grounds of this
judgment, moreover, taking into account this serious adverse event, which raises numerous issues from a human, ethical
and legal point of view, several considerations will be made.