Inconceivable

Carolyn and Sean Savage’s joy turns to disbelief when they learn that a rare mistake at a fertility clinic left Carolyn pregnant with someone else’s child. This is an inspiring story of love and courage.

You can visit their website here: http://inconceivablebook.com/

You may have missed Friday’s Dateline episode but  you should know that this isn’t a new story. We are talking about it again because both couples have written books about what happened to them.  And the most recent book was written by the couple who carried the other couple’s baby. If you missed the episode you can watch it here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/41517579#41517579

The couple whose embryo was transferred to Carolyn Savage already wrote a book in the Spring of 2010. You can go to their facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/Misconception.Morell

Many of my patients as a result of all the media exposure have been asking me, “Will you make sure nothing like this happens to me?”

This is what you should know:

Embryo mix-ups are extremely rare.  Ask your IVF Doctor what she does to prevent mix-ups.

This is what we do:

In the operating room, patients are identified while they are awake by the embryologist, nurse, physician and anesthesiologist by full name and birth date.   As soon as the follicles are aspirated, the eggs are identified and put in dishes with the patient’s full name and birth date on them. When the dishes are changed to replace the media, again matching names are put on the new dishes with a unique case number. A partner’s sperm specimen is labeled by him and processed in tubes labeled to match the partner’s name and the corresponding patient’s name and the case number. This is doubly checked with the patient’s record which will also reflect the unique case number. It is reviewed by two embryologists for accuracy prior to fertilization. Finally, when the embryo is loaded in a catheter for transfer, the identity of the dish from the embryo is checked by the physician, embryologist, nurse and the patient herself prior to the transfer being performed.

This story has a happy ending: Click here to read more. The Savages are now expecting twins via a surrogate: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/carolyn-sean-savage-embryo-mix-now-expect-twins/story?id=13318708