International   

'Mix-up' in fertility hospital

Rome: A white Italian couple are demanding compensation after the woman gave birth to twins with dark skin following fertility treatment. The public hospital in Modena where three couples received treatment on the day in question has opened an internal inquiry to determine whether the fertilised eggs of two couples were switched before being implanted, or whether the Italian woman's eggs were fertilised with the wrong sperm, as the clinic chief, Annibale Volpe, fears. Recent DNA tests have confirmed that the biological father of the twins, born about four years ago, is a North African man. ``Clearly, a dirty pipette which had already been used was not thrown away,'' the newspaper Repubblica quoted Dr Volpe as saying. ``We used it a second time and there must have been a few sperm left behind by the previous couple.'' The case comes 18 months after a similar incident in Britain in which a couple ended up adopting the child they had started to bring up, despite the fact that it was not biologically theirs. The Italian case is one of a handful of such ``test-tube mix-ups'' on record, but has sparked a heated debate about legal parentage, children's rights and medical negligence in a relatively new but increasingly sought-after area of medicine. In Italy, apparent laboratory blunders have fuelled the debate over a controversial new law which introduced tight restrictions on fertility treatment last March. Previously, Italy had been without any legislation in this area, earning it a reputation as the ``wild west'' of fertility treatment. —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

• U.S. provoking attacks: Al-Sadr
• `Maskhadov ordered siege'
• Salem Chalabi off Saddam tribunal
• The Maldives in transition — II
• Campaign begins for Afghan presidential polls
• Court to review Anwar graft case
• Schroeder faces mid-term crisis
• Qurei warns Israel of retaliation
• Looking for million-dollar solutions
• 'Mix-up' in fertility hospital
• Once more in Swaziland
• Repeal emergency, says European Union
• Is India's new prosperity a myth?
• China for early resolution of border issue

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu