Earlier this month, newspapers were reporting problems in the embryology labs in the IVF unit at Guy's, where it was alleged that eggs had been fertilised with the wrong sperm and had to be destroyed. There was a great deal of criticism of the unit and of the HFEA for failing to regulate and monitor such problems.
When I was researching The Complete Guide to IVF , I spent time watching embryologists at work, and one of the things that really struck me was how rigorous the witnessing procedures are in labs in order to ensure that mix-ups don't happen. Two embryologists would double-check everything whenever eggs, sperm or embryos were moved from one part of the lab to another and there seemed little room for error.
However, we all make mistakes and even the best systems sometimes go wrong. What we should be noting about the incidents at Guy's is that they were immediately reported to the HFEA. This is good practice and is the only way embryologists can learn from one another to try to prevent any future problems. It would be a great shame if the fact that honest clinic staff, those who admit to their mistakes, end up in the firing line leads to others being more wary about being honest themselves.
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