Monash IVF CEO Michael Knaap resigns after second embryo bungle

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Monash IVF chief executive officer Michael Knaap has resigned following the reveal of a second embryo bungle. In a statement to the ASX, Monash IVF said its board had accepted Mr Knaap's resignation and "respects his decision".

Transcript

00:00This resignation comes amid urgent calls for national regulation of the IVF industry

00:08across Australia.

00:10What we know about the resignation is Michael Knapp was the CEO of Monash IVF and the board

00:16has said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange that they have accepted his

00:19resignation and that they wish him well and respect his decision.

00:24In that statement they've said that he has led the organisation through a time of great

00:28growth and transformation.

00:31Before he was the Chief Executive he was the Managing Director so he has been with the organisation

00:35for some time taking on that role, taking on the Chief Executive role in 2019.

00:41Now of course this resignation has come just days after a second IVF bungle at Monash IVF.

00:47The second incident at the Clayton Clinic here in Melbourne's South East.

00:52We discovered it a few days ago but it happened last week and what happened there was that

00:57a patient was incorrectly transferred with their own embryo instead of their partner's

01:02embryo.

01:03And of course Monash IVF is in hot water over this because it is just the second incident

01:08in just as many months.

01:09So two incidents in two months that has really couples who are undergoing IVF at the moment,

01:14very, very concerned.

01:16So that first incident that we discovered back in February was a case where a Brisbane woman

01:21essentially gave birth to a stranger's baby because it was an incorrect transfer or an incorrect

01:26implanting, sorry, of an embryo that resulted in that birth and that was back in 2023 we understand.

01:34So a lot of concern from couples who are currently going through IVF and not just concerns being

01:40raised just about Monash IVF at the moment as it does appear that IVF regulation will be a topic to

01:46be discussed by state health ministers and the federal health minister this week.

01:50Can you tell us a bit more then Shannon about how couples who are going through IVF at Monash

01:55right now, how they're feeling?

01:56Yeah, I spoke to a couple the other day who were going through IVF at Monash and didn't want to be

02:04named or speak publicly because they're worried that if they speak publicly about those concerns

02:10that it could affect their success or could affect their treatment by staff at Monash IVF but they

02:17did tell me on background that they were very concerned about some of the, I suppose, how staff

02:23treated the process and the processes there at Monash IVF and they said they had to really pay

02:27attention to what was happening and they were quite worried. So this isn't the only couple that has

02:33raised concerns but it's also not just Monash IVF where concerns have been raised.

02:38So we have heard from a woman in Queensland, Anastasia Gunn, who had three sons conceived

02:44through donor sperm at the Queensland Fertility Group. She actually found that the eldest son was

02:49found to not be biologically related to the other sons despite having paid for the same sperm to be

02:55used for all of her children. So really quite a shock there. She's actually urged parents to get

03:01their children DNA tested to ensure that mistakes haven't been made. So in IVF Facebook support

03:08groups at the moment families are asking each other, do you think this is possible that mistakes have

03:14been made and are there concerns? And there definitely are concerns at the moment. So we have heard that

03:19there are calls for national regulation and what IVF campaigners are saying is that there is a need for

03:26a federal law or an independent auditor to go to clinics to make sure that the right checks and

03:30balances are being followed. Some who work in the industry have agreed that this regulation is needed

03:37while others have said that it is already regulated in some states and that mistakes are rare. So really

03:43interesting to see what will come out of that meeting tomorrow with the state health ministers and the

03:47federal health minister.

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