Practice area Personal Injury
IVF & Fertility Treatment Injuries
When something goes wrong, you deserve answers.
Fertility treatment involves deeply personal decisions, significant expense, and hope for the future. Discovering that an embryo may have been lost, the wrong sperm or egg was used, or treatment proceeded without your permission can leave you facing difficult questions.
Errors can arise during fertility treatment, laboratory handling, genetic testing, embryo storage, or the consent process. If you believe something went wrong, contact CBW to discuss your concerns and whether a legal review may be appropriate.
Topics
Explore IVF and Fertility Treatment Topics
Fertility-related concerns can involve several stages of care. Explore the topics below to find information relevant to your experience.
Embryo, Sperm, and Egg Identification
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Embryo Mix-Up
Concerns involving the wrong embryo being transferred, embryos switched between patients, or identification errors discovered during pregnancy or after birth.
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Wrong Sperm / Sperm Mix-Up
Use of sperm from the wrong partner or donor, including questions about labeling, laboratory handling, and specimen tracking.
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Wrong Egg / Egg Mix-Up
Use of eggs from the wrong patient or donor, including identification and labeling failures during treatment.
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IVF Record and Labeling Errors
Incorrect patient identifiers, mislabeled specimens, conflicting records, or gaps in documentation tracking eggs, sperm, and embryos.
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Surrogacy / Gestational Carrier IVF Errors
Embryo identification and transfer concerns involving a gestational carrier, including transfer of an embryo that differs from the one intended or authorized.
Embryo Storage, Handling, and Laboratory Errors
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Lost or Destroyed Embryos
Embryos reported missing, accidentally discarded, damaged, or rendered unusable during laboratory handling or storage.
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Frozen Embryo Storage Failure
Embryo loss associated with cryogenic tank failures, temperature changes, malfunctioning alarms, or questions about storage monitoring and maintenance.
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Embryo Thawing Errors
The wrong embryo being thawed, accidental warming, or concerns about damage during thawing and handling.
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IVF Laboratory Errors
Questions involving fertilization, embryo culture, incubators, equipment, specimen handling, or laboratory procedures.
Genetic Testing and Embryo Biopsy
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PGT / Genetic Testing Errors
Concerns about preimplantation genetic testing, including PGT-A, PGT-M, and PGT-SR, sample identification, contamination, inaccurate results, or how testing limitations were explained.
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Wrong Embryo Discarded After Genetic Testing
Embryos discarded following an identification error, an allegedly inaccurate testing result, or a misunderstanding of the patient’s instructions.
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Embryo Biopsy Damage
Concerns about embryo damage during biopsy or related laboratory handling. Reviewing these situations requires distinguishing known procedural risks from potentially improper care.
Treatment, Medication, and Monitoring
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Egg Retrieval Injuries
Bleeding, infection, organ or blood-vessel injuries, anesthesia concerns, or other complications following egg retrieval. A complication alone does not establish that care was negligent.
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Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS)
Concerns about medication choices, dosing, monitoring, or response to symptoms when a patient develops OHSS, a recognized risk of fertility treatment.
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IVF Medication Errors
Incorrect medication, dose, timing, administration, or instructions during a fertility-treatment cycle.
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Failure to Monitor During IVF
Questions about hormone testing, ultrasound monitoring, medication response, or whether concerning findings received appropriate attention.
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Embryo Transfer Errors
Concerns about embryo selection, patient identification, the number of embryos transferred, or how the transfer procedure was performed.
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Too Many Embryos Transferred
Transfer of more embryos than intended or authorized, including questions about consent, treatment planning, and applicable professional guidance.
Consent, Authorization, and Embryo Disposition
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Fertility Clinic Informed Consent
Questions about how treatment risks, changes in the treatment plan, genetic-testing limitations, or embryo disposition options were explained before consent.
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Unauthorized Use of Embryos or Gametes
Use, donation, research, destruction, or other handling of eggs, sperm, or embryos that may conflict with documented authorization.
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Embryos Transferred Without Authorization
An embryo transfer performed contrary to a patient’s documented instructions or consent.
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Failure to Follow Embryo Disposition Instructions
Destruction, donation, continued storage, or other disposition of embryos that may conflict with documented patient decisions.
Fertility Fraud and Donor Information
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Fertility Fraud / Doctor’s Own Sperm
Concerns involving a physician’s use of their own sperm without authorization, misrepresentation of a sperm source, or unexpected discoveries about genetic parentage.
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Donor Sperm Screening Errors
Questions about donor medical or genetic screening and whether relevant known information was communicated.
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Donor Egg Screening Errors
Concerns about an egg donor’s medical or genetic screening, donor information, or how screening findings were shared.
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Failure to Disclose Donor Genetic Information
Significant donor medical or genetic information that may not have been communicated before treatment or after new information became available.
Privacy
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Fertility Clinic Data / Privacy Breach
Exposure or unauthorized disclosure of sensitive reproductive, genetic, medical, or donor information.
Understanding IVF and Fertility Treatment Concerns
An unexpected outcome does not always mean that someone made a preventable mistake. IVF can be unsuccessful even when appropriate care is provided, and some procedures carry recognized risks.
Other situations raise questions about patient identification, specimen handling, medication instructions, monitoring, storage equipment, or whether a clinic followed documented consent and disposition instructions.
Understanding what happened begins with the details: what treatment was planned, what you authorized, what the records show, and how the clinic explained the outcome.
Questions About What Happened?
You may have received an explanation that does not match your records, learned about a laboratory or storage incident, or discovered that your instructions were not followed. You may also be unsure whether your experience involved a recognized treatment risk or a preventable error.
Relevant information may include:
- Treatment records and laboratory reports.
- Consent forms and embryo disposition instructions.
- Medication instructions and monitoring results.
- Genetic-testing and donor-screening reports.
- Storage agreements and incident notices.
- Emails, portal messages, and other communications with the clinic.
You do not need to resolve every question before contacting CBW. Explain what happened, what you have been told, and what remains unclear.
Discuss Your Experience With CBW
An IVF or fertility-treatment concern can affect your health, finances, privacy, and plans for your family. It can also leave you wondering whom to trust.
Contact CBW to discuss your experience and whether a legal review may be appropriate.
This page is general information about IVF and fertility treatment concerns. It is not legal or medical advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. An unsuccessful cycle, a complication, an embryo loss or a testing limitation does not, by itself, establish that anyone was negligent. No outcome can be promised in any case.