A New Zealand fertility clinic has breached the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights for failing to return a woman’s embryos to her as she had requested.
Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Rose Wall today released a report on the incident which outlines the clinic’s missteps.
According to the report, a woman and her husband were given three options by the fertility clinic, which was storing their embryos, as the storage was due to expire.
Option 1: Discard the frozen material immediately and stop paying storage fees.
Option 2: Continue to store the embryos and not apply for an extension of storage.
Option 3: Apply for an extension to continue to store the embryos.
The couple chose option 1 and said they wanted to collect the embryos from the clinic within 14 days. The woman the commission that she and her husband planned to take the embryos to her mother’s grave.
The clinic then removed the embryos from storage once the 10-year expiry date had lapsed.
However, it failed to contact the woman to come and collect them, disposing of them instead.
"The return of her embryos was clearly of significant importance to [the woman], and her wishes should have been respected," Wall said.
"This did not occur, and was an undeniable omission by the fertility clinic."
Wall requested the fertility clinic write an apology letter to the couple.
She also recommended an audit of similar cases to see if other consumers' requests were acted upon.
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