Parents of baby born in 2022 IVF mix-up found through testing
Rishon Lezion Family Court allows publication of limited information about widely covered story of now 18-month-old child born to parents with no genetic links
The biological parents of a baby born in a 2022 mix-up at an IVF clinic were identified last year after a series of genetic tests, the Rishon Lezion Family Court revealed Thursday.
The genetic testing was carried out after a series of rulings and appeals that eventually concluded that the couple with the highest likelihood of genetic affinity could move forward with efforts to determine whether they were the biological parents.
That couple was identified to be the baby girl’s biological parents, according to Hebrew media reports on the court’s decision to let limited information about the case be published. No other details were released by the court.
The mix-up at Rishon Lezion’s Assuta Medical Center was discovered when the then-in utero fetus was determined to have medical problems and consequently underwent a variety of tests. The results showed that neither the woman carrying the child nor her partner could be the biological parents.
After reviewing medical records and interviewing medical staff and patients, an external committee concluded that the mix-up most likely occurred when the woman who received the embryo and the genetic mother were both in the clinic’s waiting area at the same time. The women went in for embryo transfer in the wrong order, resulting in the error.
The baby girl, Sophia, now 18 months old, is in the custody of the woman who gave birth to her and the woman’s partner. The couple mounted a months-long legal battle to keep and raise the child despite not being genetically linked.
A Health Ministry probe into the incident, published in March 2023, pointed to significant breaches in protocol due to heavy workload resulting in the embryo mix-up.
In parallel to the testing, the couple raising the baby filed a lawsuit against Assuta for NIS 10 million ($2.8 million) over the mishap.
While the committee’s investigation was underway, the Health Ministry demanded in October 2022 that the medical center’s fertility department reduce its operations by 50 percent — from 10,000 fertilization treatments a year to 5,000.
A series of disturbing errors also came to light in the IVF department of the Assuta Medical Center in Tel Aviv. As a result, the Health Ministry barred the clinic from accepting new patients.
Additional restrictions on the hospital came following a hearing focusing on several highly problematic incidents involving the department, including a baby born via in vitro fertilization performed there who was found to not be genetically linked to the father. That couple is suing Assuta for NIS 34 million ($9.5 million).
