Legal and ethical ‘nightmare’ after woman gives birth to stranger’s child due to Monash IVF mistake

Monash IVF said the situation was the result of ‘human error’ and that it was confident it was an isolated incident. Photograph: San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images

The future of a child whose birth mother was mistakenly given a stranger’s embryo is a legal and ethical “nightmare” without precedent in Australian law, experts say.

Monash IVF, which operates across Australia, has apologised after a patient at one of its Brisbane clinics had an embryo incorrectly transferred to her, meaning she unwittingly gave birth to another woman’s child.