An IVF Mix-up May Have Caused The Eggs Of 26 Dutch Women To Be Fertilized By The Wrong Sperm

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An IVF lab in the Netherlands has launched an investigation after discovering that they may have fertilized the eggs of 26 women by sperm cells from the wrong man. The mix-up was revealed after some of the women had already either become pregnant or already had their babies.

However, the couples have already been informed of the potential error and the University Medical Centre (UMC) in Utrecht, Netherlands stated that it will do everything within its powers to give clarity on the issue as soon as possible.

The UMC also noted that a procedural error during the in-vitro fertilizations between mid April 2015 and mid November 2016 was to blame. The technique that caused the mistake involved a single sperm being injected directly into a woman's egg with a pipette known as Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

The technique differs from in-vitro fertilization (IVF). A lab technician is said to have used an inappropriate pipette to inject the sperm within the stated period of time. Although the technician changed the pipette after making use of it each time, he used the same rubber top until he found traces of sperm in it and then raised the alarm.

The rubber top usually has a filter, but it did not in this case. The medical center said in a statement that the UMC's board regrets that the couples involved had to receive this news, according to reports.

In a statement, the centre explained that during the fertilization, sperm cells from a couple may have ended up with the egg cells of 26 other couples. Thus there is a chance that the egg cells have been fertilized by sperm other than that of the intended father. 

The center added that though, the chance of that happening was slim, the possibility could not be excluded. The UMC said frozen embryos are still available but it is also possible that they have also been fertilized by the sperm from a different man.

Nine of the 26 couples involved have giving birth to their babies, four women are still pregnant and the other 13 embryos were all frozen. The couples are scheduled to meet doctors from the centre in few days and will be offered the option of a DNA test, according to The BBC.

This is not the first time something of this nature has happened as The Sun reported similar error occurred in 2012 when a woman sued a Singapore company after mixing up her husband's sperm with that of a stranger. The Chinese woman noticed something was wrong when her baby had a different skin tone and hair color from her Caucasian husband.