Woman whose embryos were destroyed has PTSD, court hears

The woman at the centre of a court action over the contamination and destruction of her embryos stored at a fertility clinic believes that five of her possible babies were destroyed, the High Court has heard.

Her senior counsel, Jeremy Maher, on the second day of the case said an expert on their side will say the 36-year-old woman is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of her experience “and her belief that five of her possible babies were destroyed”.

He said the evidence will be that the impact of the incident, which occurred before the woman was to have chemotherapy for breast cancer, has been significant and is ongoing.

Counsel said it is their case that the husband and wife, who cannot be named by order of the court, each suffered a recognisable psychiatric injury but that bodily injury has also been sustained.

Mr Justice Micheál P O’Higgins was told the couple have since had a baby.

Mr Maher said there may be legal argument in the case on the legal status of an embryo.

Details of the incident at the fertility clinic were given to the court by its senior counsel, Simon Mills. He said the embryos were on a tray with the embryos of four other people. He said that tray became contaminated and certain embryos became directly contaminated and there was evidence of sperm and other debris found on the eggs.

Counsel said because of the risk of a pipette which was nonsterile coming in contact with the other embryos, all on the tray could not be used, which was in accordance with applicable guidelines.

He said the couple’s side were now making the case that the woman suffered injuries to her egg and the man suffered injuries to his sperm, which, he contended, was at odds with what was expressly pleaded in legal documents.

Counsel said the area of dispute is not the contamination but that the couple lost an opportunity to extend their family.

At issue in the case also is whether the embryos at the centre of the action were capable of achieving pregnancy.

The couple have sued Human Assisted Reproduction Ireland Ltd, with registered offices at Merrion Square, Dublin, and which in 2019 was trading as Rotunda IVF at the National Fertility Centre in the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, and which is now located in Swords Business Campus in North Co Dublin.

On March 12th, 2019, the couple, who were advised to take measures to protect their fertility before the chemotherapy, were told 17 eggs had been harvested, 8 had matured and five had fertilised.

Two days later, it is claimed, they were informed that a serious adverse event had occurred in the laboratory rendering their five embryos unusable.

It is claimed they were informed that due to alleged “human error” their embryos had been contaminated and it would not be possible to use or freeze the fertilised embryos obtained.

It is maintained the couple’s embryos had to be discarded as they were deemed unsuitable for human application due to the potential risks from contamination. The husband and wife say they suffered severe and sudden shock, stress, trauma and injury.

Human Assisted Reproduction Ireland Ltd has admitted that the fertilised eggs were subsequently observed to have become contaminated. It is further admitted that because of the contamination it was not possible for the couple to use the fertilised eggs to try to achieve pregnancy.

In relation to the claim by the couple to have lost the chance to extend their family, it is denied that is recoverable as a matter of law.

The case before Mr Justice O’Higgins continues next week.