A Victorian Supreme Court writ filed against Monash IVF by the donors claims they have suffered serious psychiatric injury as a result of the mix-up which caused a baby to be born from a mislabelled embryo.
The West Australian couple, who have two children including one conceived using IVF, decided to donate four remaining embryos left over from their IVF process and looked for suitable couples online in September 2022, their statement of claim says.
The intended recipient couple, hailing from Brisbane, undertook a joint counselling session with the donors organised by Monash IVF in January 2023 when the donors consented for their embryos to be used, the writ says.
After Monash IVF agreed to transport, store, thaw and transfer the embryos to the recipients, the Brisbane couple had a child they believed to be biologically descended from the WA donors.
However, things took a turn one year after the baby was born.
Monash told the birth parents on February 17, 2025, their baby was not from the WA couple's embryo and it had instead come from a different couple, the writ states.
Three days later, the statement of claim alleges the Brisbane couple told the donors their child was not genetically linked to them.
The donors claim Monash did not tell them of the bungled transfer until a week after the baby was born.
Monash is accused by the couple of breaching their contract with the donors by failing to take reasonable care over the labelling and transport of the embryos.
As a result of the breach of contract, the couple claim to have suffered psychiatric injury including a chronic adjustment disorder with depression and anxiety.
They are seeking damages and costs from Monash, who revealed the error publicly in April 2025.
The Brisbane bungle and combined with another in Melbourne, where a woman was mistakenly implanted with her own embryo, prompted an independent review by leading barrister Fiona McLeod.
Victoria's health regulator imposed conditions on the registrations of its IVF clinics across the state from November following the Melbourne mix-up.
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