Couple seek damages in destroyed fertilised eggs case

A couple whose fertilised eggs had to be destroyed due to contamination at a fertility clinic are claiming damages for physical as well as mental injuries, the High Court has been told.

The couple, who had no children, had decided to have embryos frozen before the woman began chemotherapy for breast cancer in March 2019.

The court has heard that after fertility treatment, five eggs had been successfully fertilised.

However, they had to be destroyed due to an event in the laboratory, leading to the possibility that they could have been contaminated with someone else’s sperm.

The couple, who cannot be named by order of the court, are suing Human Assisted Reproduction Ireland Ltd, which was operating at the time at the National Fertility Centre in the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin.

They are claiming damages for mental shock, stress and trauma.

Their senior counsel, Jeremy Maher said they were also claiming damages for the physical injuries to their biological tissue – the woman’s eggs and the man’s sperm.

Mr Maher said the woman was suffering from delayed post traumatic stress disorder as a result of her belief that five of her possible babies had been destroyed and her future fertility had been affected.

He said the couple had also suffered bodily injuries to the woman’s eggs and the man’s semen.

The couple was told the day before the woman started chemotherapy that five fertilised eggs had to be discarded.

They were told it would not be safe for the woman to postpone the chemotherapy to allow another cycle of IVF to take place.

The court heard the defence will argue that the fertilised eggs in question would never have been suitable for implantation and would not have given rise to a viable pregnancy.

Senior Counsel Simon Mills, for the defendants, told the court the fertilised eggs were on a tray along with fertilised eggs belonging to four others.

Some became directly contaminated by “sperm and other debris” he said.

Others, including those of the couple, had not been directly contaminated, but they had come into contact with a dirty pipette.

Laboratory guidelines meant they could no longer safely be used, he said

Mr Mills said the laboratory admits the fertilised eggs had to be discarded but does not admit that the couple would have gone on to have a successful pregnancy if the embryos had not been disposed of.

Mr Mills said the contention that “these are or were or could ever have been babies” and “the reasonableness” of that belief, was a matter that was at issue in the case.

The court heard the defence furnished a report from an embryologist to the couple’s lawyers on Monday.

Lawyers for the couple say this report was not in the original defence furnished and should not be considered by the court.

The court has heard that the couple have since gone on to have a baby. The woman has been cancer free since 2021.

Mr Justice Mícheál P O’Higgins said he would take written submissions from each side on the arguments they had made in relation to the issues in the case and would give a ruling if necessary before the case resumes on Thursday.