Australian fertility group blasted for silencing couple in IVF scandal

An Australian fertility business has come under fire for using the wrong sperm during an IVF procedure and then silencing the couple after the baby was born.

Key Takeaways:

• A couple in Australia used Queensland Fertility Group (QFG) to undergo IVF using a sperm donor they thought resembled the intended father in 2014.

• After the baby was born, the couple realized the wrong donor had been used because the baby was biracial.

• The fertility business settled with the couple, who signed a non-disclosure agreement prohibiting them from sharing their story publicly.

• ABC News in Australia recently broke the story, but the couple's and child's identities have not been revealed.

• In recent years, similar stories of IVF mistakes have made headlines, including additional accusations against QFG.

The Details:

The Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) broke the story on August 31, reporting that the unnamed couple in Brisbane, Australia, used Queensland Fertility Group to undergo IVF, welcoming a baby in 2014. The white couple, for unknown reasons, used a sperm 'donor' whom they believed resembled the intended father. However, the baby is biracial.

After it became clear that the wrong sperm had been used, QFG settled with the couple, and as part of that settlement, the couple had to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) stating they could not publicly share their story.

QFG did not report the mistake, saying that at the time, reporting requirements were not yet in place.

“While we acknowledge shortcomings in communication by the former management, we do not believe there was a deliberate attempt to conceal the incident,” a spokeswoman said.

However, it appears that, based on the requirement of the NDA, there was intent to conceal the child's conception.

The spokeswoman added, “A settlement agreement was reached with the family. We respect the confidentiality of that agreement and the privacy of the family.”

The truth comes out

After ABC began an investigation, Virtus Health, the owner of QFG, confirmed the case, saying, "Queensland Fertility Group is aware of this matter and empathises with this family."

It said the mistake was due to a sperm labeling error at its sperm supplier, the U.S.-based Seattle Sperm Bank. It allegedly mixed up the sperm of two men who had sold their sperm on the same day. The standard identity-check, called double-witnessing, had not been implemented and was not required in the U.S. at the time.

Seattle Sperm Bank told ABC:

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 it has destroyed all of the remaining sperm it bought from Seattle Sperm Bank and no longer uses the company.

Burying the story

ABC said the couple is still afraid to speak about the situation, but a friend, who learned about the mix-up before the couple signed the NDA, spoke to ABC.

"They went to the clinic three times [after the baby was born], and the clinic dismissed them," said Jo Bastian. "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."

She said the couple didn't want others to know they were using a sperm donor, and therefore, sought a donor who resembled the intended father.

"The child is very much loved. There's no doubt of that whatsoever," she said. "The mother and father adore the child. 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."

According to ABC, using the wrong sperm is classified as a Severe Notifiable Adverse Event that must be reported immediately to the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee (RTAC). But the fertility industry's Code of Practice did not take effect until October 2014, after this mistake had occurred.

ABC was accidentally included in an email in which those involved spoke about how to respond to ABC's investigation.

One representative of the RTAC said, "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."

The RTAC said that the current staff had no knowledge of the incident. "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," it said. "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."

However, the chair of RTAC in 2014 was also the scientific director of QFG. QFG is now under different management.

In addition, Virtus Health was required to report the mistake to shareholders, but failed to do so. It is no longer a publicly traded company, and it told ABC that it does not believe there was a "cover up."

Why It Matters:

This is not the first time a sperm mix-up or even an embryo mix-up has taken place in the IVF industry, which commodifies human beings. QFG made headlines in 2024 when it was accused by another mother of using the wrong sperm.

Anastasia and Lexie Gunn, a lesbian couple, underwent IVF to have three children, working with QFG between 2006 and 2014. They thought they were using the same sperm donor each time, but after their younger two children began having health problems, they carried out DNA testing that revealed they had a different father than their older sibling.

QFG did not admit to any wrongdoing, and the couple sued.

Then, other parents began to come forward with their own QFG horror stories, which largely included stories of donors being allowed to sell their sperm hundreds of times, meaning they each could have created over 1,000 children. 

An audit of QFG sperm samples frozen before 2020 found that thousands were at high risk of misidentification because of the lack of double-witnessing.

At the time, embryologist and IVF patient advocate Lucy Lines said, “RTAC has no power to govern the corporate nature of IVF. It looks after the scientific and the medical side of the clinics. And they’re very well-respected in that space, but when it comes to the corporate decisions of the businesses, they don’t have that power.”

The "corporate nature of IVF" is the root of the problem with the billion-dollar fertility industry. It is not pro-life; it is a profitable, discriminatory business that turns children into property, grading them and labeling them based on their supposed quality, their sex, and even their eye color.

Many children created through this technology have grown up to speak out against it, saying they struggle with their identity and feel like consumer products. It's not difficult to see why.

"It's been lie after lie, excuse after excuse. They knew what they had done and just hoped we would just give up and go away," Anastasia Gunn said. "They owe our children an apology."

The Bottom Line:

This is a clear sign of the problem with IVF. An apology to the children tells them, "We're sorry you were born. Your life was a mistake."

Every child, even those labeled a 'mistake,' is a valuable human being with purpose. Every child created through IVF, regardless of how the lab labels them, is worthy of life.