Patients seek reassurances after IVF mix ups

Alarms firing off in an IVF lab as work grinds to a halt may sound like the start of a technology meltdown but at many of Australia's major fertility clinics it's actually a sign safety systems are kicking into gear.

Known as electronic witnessing, the mechanism prevents tissue mix ups and involves multiple layers of identity-document checks by humans and computers.

While rarely needed, it's a safeguard standard that's becoming the norm in an industry suddenly needing to win back public trust following revelations of two devastating errors at one of Australia's biggest facilities.

The first saw a mother give birth to another couple's biological child after she was impregnated with the wrong embryo at Monash IVF in Brisbane some years ago.

The other involved a woman incorrectly receiving her own embryo instead of one from her same-sex partner as requested, which happened at the company's Melbourne clinic earlier in June.

The bungles have sparked a rush of patients reaching out to fertility clinics seeking reassurances about their own sperm, eggs, embryos and children.

"At the moment, the trust in the industry has been eroded," says Connect IVF scientific director Lauren Hiser.

"It certainly opened up the conversation again.

"I do believe those questions inherently are always there but it's probably made patients verbalise it a little."

She's found explaining electronic and human witnessing practices at her own facility in Sydney have put patients' minds at ease but knows it will take time for confidence to return.

Monash IVF has repeatedly apologised and vowed to introduce additional verification processes over and above normal practices.

Official probes into what happened are under way, with the company yet to offer explanations for how the mix ups occurred beyond two ASX announcements.

Pink Elephants Support Network chief operating officer Jen Tupaea is among many Monash IVF patients wanting to know more.

She's noticed a general sense of uneasiness set in among IVF parents across Australia and believes patients need more reassurances that all due diligence is done.

"There's already a lot of uncertainty and worry and sort of lack of control and I think this just adds another element to that," Ms Tupaea says.

'Patchwork' is a term often used to describe the 40-odd pieces of legislation affecting IVF in Australian states and territories.

There's variations on anything from how long embryos can be stored to how many families can use the same sperm donor and even certain states banning overseas donor eggs.

Until now, the industry has largely been left to regulate itself through yearly accreditations but the mix ups spurred health ministers including Victoria's Mary-Anne Thomas to unite behind a push to explore national regulation.

It's something Pink Elephants supports, with Ms Tupaea describing IVF regulation as "a bit of a black box".

She's aware of parents worried about what would happen if a similar devastating mix up occurred at a smaller clinic that doesn't have ASX reporting requirements.

"The main concern when something like that comes up is, why are we hearing about it now, and what are we not hearing about?" she says.

Australia's first IVF baby was born 45 years ago and now some 20,000 babies conceived through IVF are born here each year.

Greater regulation is also something clinicians want, Ms Hiser explains.

"We regulated ourselves because no one enforced it upon us and because we saw the need for patient safety," she says.

"We've done a very good job of that up until now, and that's why I'm very curious to find out exactly what went wrong (at Monash IVF) because we're having a hard time ... understanding how it did happen."

IVF researcher and University of Melbourne Senior Research Fellow Sarah Lensen wants any future regulation to also include greater monitoring of 'add-on' treatments.

She specialises in evaluating their safety and effectiveness, saying for the most part there isn't a lot of good evidence they help patients.

"The banking industry is highly regulated and I think for the better, so I don't know why we wouldn't accept independent regulation in this space," Dr Lensen says.

City Fertility Group's Victorian Scientific Director Jayne Mullen wants patients to have confidence regardless of how big a clinic is, professionals are bound by strict accreditation and licensing requirements so any mistakes must be reported to health authorities.

"We're continuously monitored and audited, we are obliged to report any serious adverse event," she says.

The scientist is also fielding more calls than usual from concerned parents, offering to take them through laboratories.

While fully confident in their use of electronic witnessing and human verification, she says the Monash IVF mix ups still cause her to pause and review protocols.

"Doctors, nurses, scientists, everyone that's working in our IVF industry, we have the best of intentions, we want everyone to walk away with a happy, healthy baby," she says.

"Mistakes are so rare."

Both Ms Mullen and Ms Hiser find explaining safety controls has put many patients at ease, urging anyone still feeling nervous about treatments to reach out to their providers.

"If they don't, say, have an electronic witnessing system in place ask them why don't you, why do my fees not cover you having this extra layer of security?" Ms Hiser says.

"If you don't have that, fine, that's okay but tell me how you control (safety).

"If you still have questions after that, then maybe ask yourself are they the people that I want to be doing my IVF journey with?"