January 28, 2023 – 02:10
It was a medical error. The couple realized when they saw that the baby did not have the blood group of either of them.
A couple who underwent in vitro fertilization treatment had a child with an embryo that was not theirs. The mother and father realized the medical error when they found out that the blood group of the newborn did not correspond to that of any of them.
That is why they carried out a new blood test and then a DNA study, which confirmed that it was not the embryo belonging to them.
It turned out that the affected couple (their names are withheld) had undergone in vitro fertilization treatment to have their third child, with their eggs and sperm in a private clinic. In other words, they did not resort to egg or sperm donation, so the implanted embryo had to have genetic material only from them.
That is why the main suspicion was that the woman had been transferred the embryo from another couple.
After beginning a criminal investigation, for the alleged crimes of suppression of identity, fraud and injuries, the Justice determined that there had been an error in the medical treatment; but without intent, for which reason the crimes investigated could not be established and the case was closed.
According to the newspaper La Nación, the people who would actually receive the embryo implanted in the woman who has already given birth are aware of the situation and are under study.
And with respect to the embryo that the woman who had the baby should have received, the clinic informed them that it was not suitable for implantation.
Although the criminal case was closed, now the prosecutor’s office intervened in the family law.
unpublished case
The case has no precedents in the country, but there were similar situations in other parts of the world. In 2019, a California couple sued a fertility clinic over an embryo switch. Anni and Ashot Manukyan, from Los Angeles, accused the CHA Fertility Center clinic.
By mistake, a New York woman gave birth to her son, after two embryos, the Manukyans’ and another unidentified couple, were implanted in her uterus.
The New York woman was expecting twins, but ended up having two boys, the first indicator that something strange was going on.
To make matters worse, Anni Manukyan discovered that she had been inseminated with an embryo belonging to another couple, also CHA clients. That procedure did not end in pregnancy. After a legal battle, the Manukyans won custody of her child when she was six weeks old.