Electronic tags to stop mix-ups at IVF clinics

Fertility clinics have begun using electronic tags to prevent mix-ups over IVF samples.

The move follows a series of highprofile cases wherewomen have ended up with another patient's baby.

The tags use radio frequencies to track sperm samples and eggs through the fertilisation process to ensure mothers are not impregnated with the wrong embryo.

Experts say mistakes are rare but the massive rise in patients receiving fertility treatment has increased the chance of errors. In 2002, a white British couple gave birth to black twins after a blunder at an IVF clinic. The parents had to go to the High Court for a judge to decide the legal status of the babies.

The IVF tracking device being used by clinics is called IVF Witness. It is attached to the bottom of every petri dish and test tube containing the patient's sample.

The doctor can then pass the container over a special scanner in the laboratory before fertility treatment takes place. A computer next to the scanner flashes a "stop" message on screen if the tag does not match the patient's details.

The tag also sets off an alarm if samples from different parents are brought into the same area in the laboratory. Any mismatches identified are immediately logged and investigated.

At least three clinics in the South-East are testing the tag system, including the Herts and Essex Fertility Centre in Cheshunt. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority watchdog requires all UK clinics to monitor IVF to guard against mistakes.

Other high-profile cases of confusion include that of Donna Fasano, a white American who gave birth to another couple's baby boy 10 years ago. The child was black and a judge ordered he should go to his biological parents.

In 1993, a Dutch woman was allowed to keep her twins after a mix-up. DNA tests showed the hospital mistakenly mixed sperm from Wilma Stuart's husband with that of a black man from the Dutch Antilles.