From the embryo mix-up to sperm donation: making sense of Assuta centers' fertilization cases

A new suspected failure at Assuta Ramat HaHayal: a single mother discovered through DNA testing that her two children, born via IVF with the same sperm donor, are not genetically matched on the father's side. Lawyers contacted the Health Ministry, and the case resurfaces the 2022 affair of baby Sofia.

The Assuta medical centers network is again at the center of a storm, after yesterday (Monday) a suspected new failure was exposed at the Ramat HaHayal branch, where it is claimed that sperm donors were switched between two pregnancies of the same mother. A single mother, who gave birth to her second son about two months ago, noticed there was no external resemblance between him and her three-year-old firstborn. She underwent both IVF procedures at Assuta Ramat HaHayal and requested to use the same sperm donor. A private DNA test abroad showed that she is the biological mother of both children, but there is no genetic match between them on the father's side, meaning they were born from different sperm donors. Lawyers Gilad and Anat Ginzburg contacted the Health Ministry demanding an investigative committee. The hospital reported the case to the Health Ministry, which began reviewing the details. The affair resurfaces the 2022 case of baby Sofia in Rishon LeZion, where a fetus not genetically hers was implanted in a woman's womb. About a year ago, the Supreme Court ruled that Sofia would remain with her adoptive parents. Both cases raise questions about the oversight and control mechanisms of fertility procedures.