Women at a Dutch IVF clinic fertilized by wrong sperms by mistake.

ICSI

26 women may have been fertilized by wrong sperm from a man other than their partner at the Utrecht University Medical Centre (UMC). The officials admitted it to be a ‘procedural mistake’ in a news release on  Wednesday, December 28,2016.

A technician error resulted in mix-up of sperms in fertility treatments that took place between mid-April 2015 and mid-November 2016.

The ‘mix-up’ happened in women receiving Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) treatment. UMC says that although the possibility is small, it cannot be totally ruled out.

"During fertilization, sperm cells from one treatment couple may have ended up with the egg cells of 26 other couples," it said.

One of the lab technician used an inappropriate pipette to inject sperm. During each procedure of Sperm Injection, he changed the pipette but used the same rubber top, until he found traces of sperms inside the top and sounded the alarm. Usually the rubber top comes with a filter, but in these cases the top did not have a filter.  

Out of the 26 couples involved, 9 patients have already delivered, 4 have an ongoing pregnancy and the rest 13 embryos were frozen.

The couples have been informed about the mix-up and they will be meeting the doctors very shortly. They are offered DNA test to determine the paternity.

UMC said “it will do everything within its powers to give clarity on the issue as soon as possible."

Nearly 700 ICSI procedures are performed each year at the UMC.

Mix-up in fertility treatments are rare, a Singapore mother in 2012 sued the fertility clinic when her baby boy born after treatment at the clinic had markedly different features as compared to her Caucasian husband.

Sources:

UMC news bulletin

CNN news

The telegraph

BBC

The Australian.