The fertility industry has been in the spotlight, ever since the company, Monash IVF revealed two embryo mix-ups at its clinics. Patients and fertility experts have outlined the problems facing the industry, including overworked staff and a lack of transparency.
00:00Lucy Lyons knows more about fertility and IVF than most Australians.
00:09The mother of two suffered five miscarriages and a long battle with infertility while growing her family.
00:17She's also spent decades working in IVF clinics and with patients.
00:22She was shocked by news of two embryo mix-ups in Monash IVF labs.
00:27Every single step along the way is double witnessed by a second member of staff or an electronic witnessing system of some sort is used and in some places a combination of the two.
00:39There shouldn't be room for human error to happen.
00:42In the last two months, Monash IVF has reported two life-changing mistakes at its clinics.
00:49A woman in Brisbane was implanted with another couple's embryo, the error discovered after the child was born.
00:55And in Melbourne, a woman who was meant to be implanted with her same-sex partner's embryo later found out her own embryo had been used.
01:05The mistakes led to the resignation of the company's CEO.
01:09Lucy Lyons believes part of the industry's problem could be its very popularity.
01:14In Australia, IVF is booming business, with the industry growing by 25% since 2017 and now overseeing more than 100,000 treatment cycles a year.
01:27It's entirely possible that the embryologists have been completely overworked. There's so much pressure put on them.
01:32She's not the only one with concerns. This former patient wants to protect her privacy, but is speaking out about mistakes made while undergoing fertility testing with Monash IVF.
01:45She says the company gave her incorrect billing information and made multiple mistakes ordering fertility tests, small problems that worried her.
01:55They come across as a very trusting, leading brand in terms of IVF treatments.
02:01So throughout those experiences, interactions with Monash IVF, I lost a lot of trust.
02:10In Australia, IVF is regulated by state governments and a federal industry-aligned body, the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee.
02:19Experts say we do have a generally well-regulated system, but there is room for greater transparency.
02:26Every serious adverse event has to be reported to the accreditation committee.
02:32They record that, but it's not publicly available information.
02:37The regulator confirmed this to the ABC, saying consistent with other non-government accreditation bodies, it doesn't publicly identify any clinic's audit details.
02:48Monash IVF's mistakes were only revealed because it's a publicly listed company and had to disclose the news to the stock exchange.
02:56The mix-ups have put a spotlight on regulation of the entire industry, with political leaders now under pressure to act.
03:04On Friday, state and federal health ministers met.
03:07Victoria was pushing for an independent accreditation body to be immediately created, but the ministers instead agreed to a three-month review.
03:18I think it's concerning that in fact there may well be more errors that we don't know about.
03:23We know that in the last full year there were dozens of breaches of the code of conduct, but I don't know as the Federal Health Minister what they were.
03:32The national industry body, the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand, welcomed the review, saying a nationally consistent approach to reproductive technology regulation would improve transparency, streamline governance and enhance patient care.
03:49While political leaders discuss national reforms, some business analysts say it might be pressure from shareholders that prompts IVF companies to change.
03:59Shareholders are expecting a full review and they want to know what comes out of that and what needs to change and have those changes in place.
04:09Changes that can't come soon enough for patients going through fertility treatment.
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