IVF clinic Queensland Fertility Group silenced white couple who gave birth to biracial baby in sperm mix-up

A biracial baby was born to a white couple in Brisbane in an IVF mix-up that Australia's biggest fertility company kept secret for the past 11 years.

The incident has never been made public before, but ABC Investigations has learned shocking details from multiple sources with knowledge of the birth and the company's cover-up.

The baby's delivery at a Brisbane hospital in 2014 was the first time the couple realised something had gone wrong with their treatment.

Queensland Fertility Group (QFG), which is owned by Australia's largest fertility company, Virtus Health, only confirmed the case after ABC Investigations uncovered the tightly held secret and put questions to the IVF giant.

It said: "Queensland Fertility Group is aware of this matter and empathises with this family."

ABC Investigations can reveal embryos were created at QFG's Brisbane clinic using the woman's eggs and donor sperm imported from a US sperm bank.

The couple had chosen a donor whose description matched the husband's Caucasian features — including fair hair and blue eyes.

When the baby was born, the ethnicity was entirely different to the donor they had chosen.

At the time, the new mother wrote about her anguish and confusion in an online parents' forum.

"I love my beautiful baby more than life itself," she posted.

"[But] has anyone ever found out their IVF baby wasn't theirs?

"Has anyone had a baby that looked like it came from [a] different ethnicity?

"DNA test is off being processed … I have approx 2-3 weeks for results to come through … will also find out if [the baby] is biologically mine."

ABC Investigations has learned that an internal investigation by the US sperm provider, Seattle Sperm Bank, found that two men had donated on the same day — one Caucasian and the other African American — and the samples were mixed up.

The incorrect sperm was put inside a correctly labelled storage vial.

A further audit of the sperm bank's lab processes found that a crucial identity check, known as double-witnessing, was not being practised during semen collections.

The system, while not required in the US at the time, has been the industry standard in Australia since 2012.

In the US, there is a lack of regulation over specific lab routines at sperm banks.

Neither QFG nor Virtus Health had ever checked whether its international sperm providers were performing these basic checks before exposing its Australian patients to the risk of a mix-up.

Seattle Sperm Bank told the ABC in a statement: "We can confirm that the laboratory error of the wrong label being affixed to the donor specimen occurred in 2013."

"Following this, Seattle Sperm Bank created a robust, seven-step double verification, with a computer-assisted automated witnessing system that prevents this type of error from occurring again."

QFG said "all remaining donor sperm from this donor was destroyed."

Clinic denied error, then covered it up

Queensland Fertility Group and its parent company, Virtus Health, went to great lengths to conceal this scandal.

As part of a settlement, the Brisbane couple was paid to stay silent in a strict non-disclosure agreement that still has them terrified of speaking today.

Family friend Jo Bastian learned details of the mix-up before the confidentiality agreement was signed.

She said the fertility giant's treatment of the couple was appalling.

"They went to the clinic three times, and the clinic dismissed them," she said.

"The mother felt very, very isolated and there was never any contact from the clinic to see how she and the baby were going.

"It was a very confronting time, and the clinic was of no help whatsoever."

Queensland Fertility Group (QFG) said: "This incident occurred more than a decade ago and was overseen by the former public company board and management of QFG.

"We regret their failure to provide a greater level of support and communication to the family during this difficult time."

Ms Bastian said the couple had originally wanted to keep their use of a sperm donor private.

"They didn't want people to know they'd gone down the IVF route with donor conception," she said.

"The child is very much loved … but that's not the issue.

"You put your faith and your trust in the clinic that they're going to transfer the right embryo, they're going to give you the right sperm."

Fertility regulator had 'no formal knowledge' of incident

Using the wrong sperm to create embryos is a serious error that is classified as a "Severe Notifiable Adverse Event".

Under the industry's Code of Practice, which came into force in October 2014, such an event must be immediately reported to the industry regulator and licensor, the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee (RTAC).

The ABC asked RTAC if the mix-up had ever been reported.

RTAC's response highlights how poorly the fertility industry has been regulated historically and the ongoing lack of accountability and transparency by IVF clinics.

In an email that the ABC was accidentally copied in on, representatives of the regulator discussed what public response they should make to the ABC's questions.

One representative told his colleagues:

"I think we should be providing as little information as possible — simply put, we have no formal knowledge of the incident.

"We should not comment (or acknowledge) anything that might indicate we have informal knowledge of the situation."

In a media statement sent afterwards, RTAC said: "The current RTAC had no prior formal or informal knowledge of this incident. Informal knowledge came as a direct result from this ABC enquiry.

"There is no record of any notice or report made by Queensland Fertility Group (QFG) … in relation to the incident that took place in 2014.

"At the relevant time, there was no requirement under the applicable Code of Practice to make such a report.

"It is RTAC's understanding that the matter was dealt with appropriately and satisfactorily resolved with the patients involved."

ABC Investigations has learned that the chair of RTAC at the time of the mix-up was also the scientific director of Queensland Fertility Group.

He told the ABC he had "no memory of the incident that you describe".

Fertility researcher Karin Hammarberg said transparency within the fertility sector and its regulator was crucial.

"Although the taxpayer pretty much funds a big part of the fertility industry, we really have no way of knowing to what extent adverse events happen and, more importantly, what's done within clinics to prevent them from happening again," Dr Hammarberg said.

"We have to take learnings from mistakes. That's the bottom line."

Virtus Health did not disclose debacle to sharemarket

Virtus Health was a publicly listed company at the time of this IVF mix-up, meaning it had disclosure obligations to the ASX and shareholders.

The CEO of the Australian Shareholders Association, Rachel Waterhouse, said listed companies were expected to operate with transparency and integrity, "particularly in healthcare where trust and reputation are central to business value".

"Shareholders want to be kept informed around a company and the risks and when an incident does happen … they need to have the trust and the confidence that it has been resolved and it won't happen again."

In April, the share price of Virtus Health's competitor, Monash IVF, plummeted from $1.08 to 69 cents after news broke that a woman had given birth to a stranger's baby in Brisbane.

"The share price might drop, but what's really important is to give confidence … when things go wrong, how do you make sure that doesn't happen again?" Ms Waterhouse said.

"Transparency is the key."

Virtus Health told the ABC: "While we acknowledge some shortcomings in the communication between the former management and the family, we do not believe the former board and management engaged in a 'cover up'."

Virtus Health was delisted three years ago when it was bought out by private equity giant BGH Capital for $655 million.

'They should have got it right by now'

In June, Australia's health ministers launched a "rapid review" of the nation's fertility industry, and there are calls for the industry-funded RTAC to be replaced with an independent regulator.

"A new regulator that is completely separated from the industry would be a much-preferred option," Dr Hammarberg said.

"There could also be more transparency in the reporting to the public.

"If one clinic has made a discovery about something that might potentially go wrong, it would be very helpful for other clinics to know about it as well."

The couple's family friend, Ms Bastian, said Virtus Health's 11-year cover-up of their IVF mix-up showed there were potentially many more secrets yet to be uncovered.

"The clinic needs to be held accountable because these things are still happening … they should have got it right by now," she said.

"We don't know what other mistakes have been made.

"The mother and father adore the child … [but] these people shouldn't be put in this position in the first place."

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