Woman accidentally impregnated with another couple’s twins because of slightly different names

An Italian woman was accidentally impregnated with another couple’s embryos during a December round of in vitro fertilization, possibly when lab technicians failed to note three different letters in the two couples’ surnames.

According to Italian press, the unnamed pregnant woman was three months along when she learned she was carrying children who aren’t biologically her own. Rome health authorities reportedly informed her there was a “genetic incompatibility” between her and the babies.

The IVF treatment was performed at the Sandro Pertini Hospital in Rome on the same day as three other couples. The pregnant woman and her husband’s last name was only slightly different than one of the other couples. Reports suggest the hospital may have mixed up the embryos or the woman may have responded when the wrong name was called in the waiting room.

Either way, it is said she will keep the twins. Sadly, the biological mother’s December pregnancy ended with a miscarriage. (It’s unclear whether she was impregnated with more of her own embryos.) Lorenzo D’Avack, vice president of Italy’s national bioethics committee, told The Telegraph the biological mother wouldn’t have a claim to gain custody of the children because Italian law gives legal rights to whoever births the babies.

A similar situation happened in Ohio in 2009. In that case, the woman who gave birth to a boy handed the baby over to his biological parents. Although the couples remained in touch, birth mother Carolyn Savage dealt with post-traumatic stress disorder and later described the “ambiguous pain” she has for the “absent child.”

In 2000, a San Francisco hospital attempted to cover up the same mistake. A whistleblower tipped off the Medical Board of California when the baby boy was 10 months old. The biological father sued for custody and was granted shared rights in 2005.