IVF lab error - should I get a refund/ compensation?

[hoping2021]

I had a follow up today.

The plan from my last cycle was to do ICSI with a fresh sample of my husbands sperm, if it was not high quality then lab had instructions from us, my consultant and nursing team to use back up frozen sample of sperm.

We were told by embryologist that sperm was top quality on the day.

However today I learned that it was grade 2 sperm only. My consultants opinion is that failure of cycle likely is down to sperm quality not being grade 1. I queried why the back up frozen sperm was not thawed and examined by the lab, and he admitted this was an error.

I have written a complaint letter. Would it be unreasonable to request a full refund of the cycle; has anyone done this before? How did you go about it?

I feel due to the lab error, my cycle was wasted at a huge emotional, psychological, physical, and financial cost.

[Purpledoggy]

At the least, I would expect a free round considering this one ended up being a waste. So sorry you went through this, IVF is hard enough without fluff ups xx

[Redsequin]

Oh no. I'm so sorry to hear this. What a ridiculous error that, as you say, has cost you dearly. I would expect your next cycle to be free quite honestly. I'm taking it they haven't offered any compensation so far? xx

[hoping2021 in reply to Redsequin]

They haven’t offered anything yet. I only sent official complaint in today. I have already paid upfront for 3 cycle package, which was £12K but I have to pay for IMSI, drugs and bloods on top. This was cycle one of 3.

[Redsequin in reply to hoping2021]

Ah I see. Hopefully you can negotiate a return of a third of the 12k. That would be a reasonable request given the circumstances. X

[Donnamaree]

Hi I would look at your clinic and see what they say about there refund policy and also put in your complaint about the facts and the emotional and stress that they have cause because of there errors and time that has been wasted cause of this Yes I had a few complaint with my clinic in missing important steps when doing IVF with a private clinic they tryed to just say sorry and with the whole covid they didn't have staff I just told them that we pay for a service which we should get and didn't take sorry for an answer and I got a refund hope this help just remember how this has made you and your husband feel x

[hoping2021 in reply to Donnamaree]

Thank you for sharing your story. It’s good to hear a precedent has been set for how to deal with errors. I would like a full refund of my cycle and also for them to pay for cost of my drugs, bloods, IMSI that I had to do during cycle. It’s had a huge impact on my work, I took a month off work prior to starting cycle to make sure my stress levels were right down. I shielded for an entire month to make sure I didn’t get Covid so cycle wasn’t cancelled and it’s just so unfair because of their complacency that they used the wrong sperm.

[rachcamp08]

Terrible that you went through this. I would definitely ask for a complimentary round. Number one it’s a lot of money but most importantly each round we are putting our bodies through a lot so 100% I believe you should. Best wishes xx

[Booda21]

I don’t know the ins and outs of this but I would definitely complain and ask for a refund or for a free/discounted cycle on the next one if you’re sticking with the same clinic. I understand human error obviously can occur in any setting but it’s so hard when it feels like someone is messing up your life! So sorry you’ve had to deal with this. Good luck getting some answers to compensation xxx

[Daughterofaking]

I will ask for a free round considering that they accepted they error they made and I believe they will be very careful with your next cycle. Wish you all the best xx