DNA tests prove mix-up of embryos in Italy

DNA tests on Thursday proved there was a mix-up of embryos at a hospital in Italy's Rome which led to a woman getting pregnant of twins who were not her biological children, local reports said. The tests also identified the biological parents of the twins being carried by the woman. Days ago prenatal tests had already shown that she was not the genetic mother of them. The switch, which was thought to have occurred in Rome's Sandro Pertini hospital at the beginning of December, was allegedly due to a human mistake perhaps triggered by the similarity between the surnames of two couples, according to Rome-based II Messaggero newspaper. On Dec. 4, at least four women were scheduled to have viable embryos implanted, and three of them got pregnant as a result of the assisted-fertility treatment. Local prosecutors were investigating to ascertain responsibilities in the incident. Meanwhile the case has sparked strong debate and has worried many other parents who were expecting children thanks to fertility treatments carried out at the same hospital. Italian Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin reassured about the country's standards set for assisted-fertility procedures. "In Italy every day hundreds and hundreds of these insemination interventions are carried out and are very safe," she was quoted as saying by Milan-based Corriere della Sera newspaper. "When these things happen, it is because someone did not comply with the control procedures," Lorenzin said while commenting on the mix-up. Local experts had different opinions. "The law says that children are of those who give birth to them," therefore "the pregnant woman does not risk that the twins are taken away from her," a constitutional judge, Ferdinando Santosuosso, was quoted as saying by ANSA news agency. "The genetic mother has no right, from legal standpoint, to claim anything," he said. However, although abortion in Italy is legal up to the 12th week of pregnancy, the woman expecting the twins may decide and be allowed to terminate pregnancy, being this a very special case, the judge noted. Other experts were seeing things differently. The head of Luca Coscioni association for the freedom of scientific research, Filomena Gallo, said in a statement that "the genetic parents of the twins can take legal action," because the mix-up can be made equal to a "switch of babies." Another possible solution could be that the pregnant woman decides to give birth to the twins and let them be adopted by the genetic parents, a constitutional law professor at the University of Milan, Marilisa D'amico, said. In any way, D'amico added, there will be no easy solution to the case which she described as "really extraordinary and not provided for by law."