Preventing Mistakes

Over the past few weeks several readers have expressed their horror and dismay when reading our columns dealing with the tragic and heart-wrenching case of baby Sofia, born to a couple who are not her genetic parents. Until the writing of this

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How could such calamities be prevented? Even with the best intentions of the fertility clinics and laboratories mistakes still happen. A recent meeting of fertility experts discussed how to prevent such mistakes, and the conclusion was that whatever they do there is still no guarantee that this will not happen again.

PUAH has been very concerned with such a possibility for several decades. The personal and halachic ramifications of such a mistake were the basis for our search for a solution. This led to the development of our supervision services.

PUAH has supervision of fertility treatment worldwide. The supervisors are incredibly dedicated and highly trained women who are present in the laboratory from early in the morning, sometimes until late at night.

Their task is to watch, observe and track the genetic material throughout the entire fertility procedure to ensure that such mistakes do not happen. This is both a halachic requirement and a personal need for assurance for the thousands of couples who undergo fertility treatment with PUAH supervision every year.

Knowing that someone is unobtrusively present in the lab, following their genetic material as it makes its journey through the various procedures and equipment, gives these couples the confidence to embark on fertility treatment, happy that such mistakes can be prevented.

The PUAH supervisors have discovered several dozen mistakes. These are rare, but, as we have seen, can be disastrous. In such cases either the mistake was rectified immediately, or genetic material was discarded and the treatment had to be performed again. While this is extremely difficult for the couple, the alternatives, of either having a child who is not their genetic child, or even living with the knowledge that such an eventuality is even remotely possible, may be infinitely worse.

PUAH is dedicated to helping couples navigate the system of fertility treatment and making sure that it is available for all couples who need it, without any halachic concern of the integrity of their lineage.

The Puah Institute is based in Jerusalem and helps couples from all over the world who are experiencing fertility problems. Offices in Jerusalem, New York, Los Angeles & Paris. Contact (Isr) 02-651-5050 (US) 718-336-0603 www.puahonline.org

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