Staffer at centre IVF embryo mix-up may still work at Monash clinic

Monash IVF has refused to say whether the staffer behind the “human error” that saw a woman give birth to a stranger’s baby is still working.

Monash IVF is refusing to say whether the staffer responsible for the “human error” that led to a woman mistakenly giving birth to a stranger’s baby is still working for the fertility giant.

The Herald Sun revealed last week that a Brisbane woman had unknowingly given birth to a stranger’s baby in 2023 after the Melbourne-based company impregnated her with another couple’s embryo.

But a week after the scandal was exposed, the multimillion-dollar company has still failed to provide key details to worried patients while some board members have refused to publicly back the executive team.

Despite blaming the catastrophic mix-up on a “human error” – and repeated questions from this masthead – the company has refused to reveal whether the responsible staffer is still working and handling embryos at their clinics.

They also refused to say whether the staffer only worked at their Brisbane clinic, or was also employed at any of their other Queensland sites.

A Monash IVF spokeswoman said “we don’t comment on individual employee matters”.

It comes as board chair Richard Davis did not respond when asked if he had confidence in the executive team, while independent board members Catherine Aston and Zita Peach also would also not say whether they supported the senior leadership or planned to resign.

But when approached by the Herald Sun, independent Board member Neil Broekhuizen said he “absolutely” still supported the executive team and he was not aware of any board members planning to resign.

“Under the current circumstances, I have no intention of resigning,” he said.

Monash IVF has blamed the mistake on “human error”.

It comes as other worried patients took to social media to express their concerns, and criticised the clinic’s lack of communication and transparency.

Some parents even said that they were considering getting DNA testing for their children conceived via IVF in the wake of the shocking news.

Monash IVF has repeatedly said they were “confident” the incident was an isolated one, but – despite repeated questions this week – have refused to say how they came to this conclusion or whether every embryo and gamete at their Brisbane clinic had been checked.

The company also refused to state when it commissioned lawyer Fiona McLeod’s independent investigation into the incident – which they were alerted to in February – and if it was underway before media enquiries began.

The Herald Sun revealed last week that a woman had unknowingly given birth to another couple's baby.

In a bid to reassure patients after the news broke, the company has said they adhere “to strict laboratory safety measures to safeguard and protect the embryos in our care”.

But they refused this week to answer detailed questions about what these protocols were.

A spokeswoman said “given the importance of protecting the privacy of the families involved and the fact that an independent investigation is currently underway we are not in a position to comment further at this time”.

The Herald Sun revealed last Thursday that the shocking error only came to light in February this year – once the child was a toddler – after the mother asked to have her remaining embryos transferred to a new IVF provider.

Monash IVF said an internal audit found no evidence that this had happened to other families, but also could not rule it out.

Monash IVF chief executive Michael Knaap said last week Monash IVF was “devastated” and “truly sorry”.

“We apologise to everyone involved,” he said.

“We will continue to support the patients through this extremely distressing time.”

Originally published as Staffer at centre IVF embryo mix-up may still work at Monash clinic