"From Machon Puah"

A Horrible Mistake

In a story ripped from recent headlines… Sean & Carolyn Savage, a non-Jewish couple living in Ohio struggling with fertility issues endured 10 long years of waiting for that special moment. A moment that all fertility-challenged couples face. The moment when they hear the news, “Congratulations, you are going to have a baby.”
Like many other couples who turn to IVF (in vitro fertilization) to have children, the Savages had secondary infertility. Because of medical complications following the birth of their second son, their dream of building a large family together slowly withered until they realized that IVF was their last chance to grow their family. And it worked.
After the successful birth of their first daughter in 2008, the Savage’s still had 5 viable embryos in cryogenic storage and they had to decide what to do with them. Due to their religious beliefs, they could not destroy the embryos. Rather than destroy the embryos, they decided to undergo a final round of embryo implantation in the hopes that Carolyn would conceive and bear a younger brother or sister for their newborn daughter.
Ten days after the implantation, they got that special phone call; the call that IVF patients wait so desperately for; the call to tell them that the implantation was successful and that they were going to have a baby. For the Savage’s, this call was a disaster.
In a story that has been reported throughout the world, the Savage’s were told that not only was Carolyn pregnant, but that she had been accidentally implanted with embryos from another couple. In short, she was carrying a baby that was not genetically hers.
The Savage’s next decision is what makes the story so compelling. Adhering to their religious beliefs, they decided that they could not ethically or morally make the decision to terminate the pregnancy. Furthermore, with the same conviction of conscience, they decided that upon birth, the baby would be given to his genetic parents - no strings attached.
Their courage, both in standing by their convictions and doing what they have determined is the “right” thing to do as well as the proud and unashamed manner in which they are informing the public of their plight, is inspirational. Their plight and generosity has touched the hearts of millions.
As the story continued to develop, a possible explanation for the mix up began to emerge. Apparently, the embryos in question were the property of a couple who were also seeking to have their second IVF baby. The wife’s maiden name, the name listed on her voter registration records, is Savage. It began to seem possible that a mistake was made by an unknown embryologist in a lab who simply grabbed a container labeled “Savage”, not realizing that there could be two families with similar names.
While it is certainly regrettable, distressing and utterly inexcusable, we can understand the nature of this error. After all, we all make mistakes. These were unusual circumstances, ones that should never have come about - but sometimes mistakes happen.
After all, there have been other cases of IVF errors in the media lately. A woman in Japan recently aborted her pregnancy that was the result of a similar error. Couples have fought incredibly public battles over custody and visitation of children born under similar circumstances. Surely there are also more cases that have not gone public because of embarrassment or a desire to spare a child the stigma of such notoriety. Isn’t this just one of the risks of IVF?
The sad answer is that it does not have to be. The reason why - next week…

• Other "From Machon Puah"
• Training Supervisors
• Supervision - Who are the Supervisors
• Supervision - The Practice