Milan IVF clinic implants wrong embryo after name mix-up, halts all procedures
A woman undergoing IVF at Milan's San Raffaele Hospital was implanted with another couple's embryo on 23 July after staff confused the two women's names. The error was caught eight minutes later and the embryo removed, but the second couple was initially not told.
What happened
On the morning of 23 July 2026, two couples unable to conceive naturally arrived at Milan's San Raffaele Hospital for scheduled embryo transfers. According to a first investigative report cited by La Repubblica, the first woman received an embryo shortly after 11:00, but it was not her own. Staff had confused the names of the two women, and the embryo implanted belonged to the second couple.
The error was discovered approximately eight minutes later, when one of the two biologists involved rechecked the name. Together with the couple, the decision was made to suction out the wrongly implanted embryo. The couple's own embryo, which had not been used, was preserved and returned to storage.
- First woman implanted with the wrong embryo at San Raffaele Hospital, Milan
- A biologist rechecks the name and the error is discovered eight minutes later
- Wrong embryo suctioned out; second couple receives their own second embryo the same day
- La Repubblica reports the incident; health authorities halt all such procedures at the clinic
The second couple
The couple whose embryo had been mistakenly implanted received their own second embryo later the same day. However, doctors initially chose not to inform them of the error. The rationale, as reported by La Repubblica, was to avoid "emotional and psychological stress in the days in which the embryo could implant." The second couple has since been informed of what happened.
Clinic response and investigation
Health authorities ordered all embryo-transfer procedures at San Raffaele Hospital temporarily suspended. They will resume only after a thorough review of how the mix-up occurred. The hospital is described in both reports as a renowned institution in the northern Italian city.
IVF in Italy
More than 80,000 couples in Italy attempt to conceive through in vitro fertilisation each year. On average, an embryo implants successfully in the uterus in about 30 to 40 percent of cases following such a transfer, according to the figures cited in the La Repubblica report. The incident at San Raffaele, while caught quickly, raises questions about identification protocols in a field where even a brief lapse can have irreversible consequences.
