I recently read an articleabout a couple who had the wrong embryo transferred to a woman’s body while undergoing In Vitro Fertilization. She became pregnant, and briefly after being told the good news, another call came from their doctor notifying them that the embryos transferred were not theirs but another couples. The couple decided that they would not abort the fetus but carry it to term and then have to give up the child to her biological parents. According to them there was no other alternative. Without much thought I know I would do the same thing.
Both families are outraged by the mix up, however the biological parents of the baby in gestation are relieved, thankful, and excited to be able to add to their family. Besides the obvious pain, the woman carrying the baby has been notified by her doctor that she will never have another chance to carry a baby because of a condition she has, and therefore, the five embryos they have frozen will have to be put in a gestational carrier. The news is a doubly whammy for the couple.
The big question is how do things like this happen? Just because we are dealing with vitally important circumstances such as life, death, surgeries, and infertility treatments does not change the fact that humans are performing these procedures and operations. Think about how many mistakes happen at the telephone company, restaurant, or airport. Errors are going to happen because they are inevitable. It’s not just the human factor, but poorly run hospitals, overworked staff, and new technologies that are slowly but surely gaining ground.
Think of changes hospitals have had to make in recent years because of unthinkable mistakes. Patients in many hospitals are asked to use a magic marker and “x” which body part is supposed to be operated on because one too many times the wrong limb was amputated. Are these stories sensationalized? Sure. Does it makes it any less scary or thought provoking? Hell, no. If your blood lab isn’t already doing this, make sure they check your date of birth and name at least twice when they use a vial to draw blood. Babies have notoriously gotten switched at the hospital from the nursery to mom’s room for feeding etc. Not so much now, but in the past it was very common—yes, really. I know a personal story.
Think about other fields where the public has gotten royally screwed because they put way too much trust in the “professional” they hired.
