‘Wrong sperm’ conceived: Australia to kill 1000s of semen samples over mix-up

A new report has shown significant issues with sperm donation in the state of Queensland. Thousands of sperm donations will now be discarded due to identification errors in the Australian state.

The investigation was undertaken by Queensland’s Office of the Health Ombudsman (OHO), which found errors in nearly half (42%) of all audited sperm samples. These concerns included lost or mislabeled samples, as well as samples that failed to meet acceptable quality requirements owing to inappropriate storage or handling.

The health ombudsman report details “identification mix-ups, ​​loss of viability of gametes or embryos or suspected deterioration (beyond accepted laboratory standards) that renders them unsuitable for use.”

As per the OHO press release, the investigation looked into health services provided by over 24 licensed assisted reproductive technology (ART) providers in Queensland.

Self-regulated industry

These mix-ups can have serious consequences for parents and donor-conceived children. As per BBC, these mix-ups can prevent access to important genetic information and medical history, and in rare instances, could lead to unintended incest.

Queensland has a large in-vitro fertilization (IVF) industry. More and more Australians are seeking fertility treatments, including sperm donation. According to official data, one in every six Australian couples had problems starting a family.

This could be due to factors like delaying parenthood, same-sex couples wanting to start families or medical issues preventing couples from conceiving naturally.

However, the problems stem from the fact that the fertility industry is largely self-regulated. There are no state laws in place to oversee these clinics.

This lack of oversight has led to several concerning practices, including the use of very low-quality sperm, failure to report errors, and delays in informing patients about mistakes.

IVF clinics exposed

The report further exposed concerning practices by some IVF clinics .

Patients claimed they were not told about the donor’s medical history, that eggs and embryos were jumbled up, and that sperm was utilized incorrectly. This led at least one family to inadvertently have children with separate biological fathers.

The investigation advised that all preserved donor material that does not comply with current identifying standards be destroyed. Approximately “thousands” of frozen sperm samples are anticipated to be destroyed.

Those frozen before 2020, in particular, were judged to be “high risk” because they “did not comply with double witnessing” in which two IVF doctors ensure that a patient’s material is appropriately labeled.

The report noted : “The impact on consumers and the donor-conceived children in cases of gamete mix-ups cannot be underestimated. The trauma and distress associated with these cases has been evident in the complaints made to the OHO.”

“Appropriate counselling should be offered by ART providers to ensure that consumers and their families are given appropriate support to manage the emotional turmoil created with uncertainty about paternity and genetic origins. The implications for families from such errors are life-long.”