Wendy here. Holy crap! The cover story in today's Oregonian newspaper is a shocker about a mix-up at a fertility clinic. You can read the entire article here.
But here are the nuts and bolts of it. A man went to OHSU's fertility clinic to leave a sperm sample that would be later used by his fiancee. After leaving his sample, he was called by the clinic who told him they had dropped his sample and he would have to give another which he did.
A married couple, who have tried to have children for years, went to the clinic for an IUI using anonymous sperm they had purchased through the clinic. After the woman was inseminated, she was called back to the clinic and was told that a mistake had been made and that they had inseminated her with the wrong sperm. They had her take a "morning after" pill and offered her an abortion if she was pregnant or free sperm and inseminations if she wasn't.
A few months later the clinic called the sperm donor and told him a mistake had been made. Now he is suing to know if the woman had a baby with his sperm and whether he is a father. The woman who mistakenly received his sperm is fighting for her privacy.
Law and ethics professors are speculating that the rights of the mother will trump the rights of the "maybe" father. We'll see this week if the man's paternity suit can go forward. If it does, the next question will be "If there is a baby and it is his, will he sue for custody?" The man is also suing OHSU for $2 million in personal damages.
And again I say, Holy Crap!! I imagine this makes all of us who have used a fertility clinic's services gasp! Karen and I were planning on using OHSU's fertility clinic's services before deciding on a CA company. It makes my heart flutter a bit to think, "That could be us".
Of course, my heart goes out to the woman and her husband. I can understand why the donor would be truly pissed but I hope his suit doesn't go any further.
[8w, 4d]
Friday, September 22, 2006
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3 comments:
Holy Crap indeed.
There were seven women having their eggs removed the morning I went in for egg collection and more than once I have wondered... could there be a mix up....
That's crazy. I didn't get to read the paper because HG recycled it before I had a chance, but I heard about that.
Crazy! Sounds like a lot of screw ups. :/
I could see him suing for damages but I hope he leaves that mother alone, if she did indeed have "his" child. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, he doesn't know her or the child and really does he want to mess things up? If I were him, I'd let them be and worry about my own family. The woman isn't to blame and she shouldn't have to be mixed up with her "anonymous" donor since she opted for anonymous for a reason. Weird situation.
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