Two babies have been born with life limiting conditions after mistakes were made during IVF treatment at a Nottingham clinic.
According to the fertility watchdog, mistakes made at a Nottingham laboratory which is used by the IVF clinic left two babies with incurable diseases.
Two mothers, who are remaining anonymous, went to the CARE fertility clinic at Nottingham Business Park for a pre-implantation diagnosis to avoid passing on inherited conditions to their children.
A report released by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said that the mistakes made were a “A grade” error, the most severe type.
The patients visited the clinic to undergo tests on their genes to identify conditions and prevent passing these on to their children during the IVF treatment.
One of the women wanted to avoid their child getting neurofibromatosis, a disease which can reduce life expectancy by 15 years by causing tumours to grow.
The first woman became pregnant in July of last year after she had 10 embryos tested at the clinic in June 2013 and one embryo was implanted in the womb.
The laboratory later informed the IVF clinic that a mistake had been made and the implanted embryo was affected.
Wanting to avoid passing on a serious blood disorder to her baby, the second woman used a frozen embryo that was stored at the Nottingham clinic.
After finding out she was pregnant she discovered the baby had the condition which can lead to high blood pressure, strokes and breathing problems.
A spokesperson for the HFEA said:
“These two incidents are very serious and have no doubt been devastating for the couples involved. They had treatment to have a healthy child but may now have children affected by a serious genetic condition. As with all serious incidents, we thoroughly investigated the causes and worked closely with the regulator responsible for the testing laboratory. We also publish an annual report about incidents in fertility clinics, so that others can learn from any mistakes that happen.”
The CARE Fertility clinic which was established in 1985 has had three other “A grade” incidents reported concerning fertility treatment since 2009.
It is unknown whether the women will be taking legal action against the clinic.
