California couple sues fertility clinic over embryo carrying cancer gene

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

Melissa Diaz carries the BRCA1 genetic mutation making her prone to breast and ovarian cancer. Her husband, Jason, has a rare mutation that predisposed him to stomach cancer which he eventually developed when he was 32. Jason Diaz then underwent stomach removal surgery and chemotherapy, according to the lawsuit. When the couple chose to start a family, they sought out in vitro fertilization (IVF) and genetic testing for their embryos to ensure the mutations were not passed on to their future children.

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With the understanding that one of their male embryos carried only the BRCA1 gene which is linked to less risk for men than for women, the couple opted to move forward with a second embryo transfer resulting in a successful pregnancy and birth of a boy who is now a year old, the lawsuit states.

Last summer, when the couple was planning to expand their family again, Melissa Diaz says she reached out to HRC Fertility and requested a copy of her embryo report. Diaz says she was surprised to see handwritten notes that indicated an embryo carrying the stomach cancer mutation was the one transferred resulting in her son.

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The couple is suing the clinic for fraudulent concealment and a violation of California’s unfair competition law, and they are separately arbitrating their claim about transferring the wrong embryo.

“We trusted them to help us have a healthy baby,” said Melissa Diaz in a news conference.

The Diaz’s son “will develop stomach cancer, require a total stomach-removal surgery, or both,” the court filing asserts.

“Because of their error, our greatest fear has become our reality,” said Jason Diaz in the news conference. “I know the pain of this cancer personally. And I know through watching other family members suffer and eventually die from it. I wouldn’t want anyone on Earth to experience this type of pain and now I will be forced to watch my own son – my own flesh and blood – go through this.”

“We deeply empathize with this family’s situation,” HRC said in a statement. “However, the patients associated with the case sought genetic testing and genetic counseling outside of HRC Fertility, and with an outside party; they wished to have a male embryo transferred, which we carried out according to the family’s explicit wishes and in accordance with the highest level of care.”

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/02/us/california-embryo-cancer-gene-lawsuit/index.html

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Didn't know we'd advanced to the level of test tube cancer detection

Will this send the right to lifers to frenzy over avoiding God's will?

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

2. they can test embryos for the gene associated with certain illnesses

yeah right to lifers don't like embryo storage and destruction.

[snowybirdie]

3. A lawsuit?

This goes too far. No one can absolutely guarantee a strong healthy baby with excellent genes. So Californian to demand this.

[XanaDUer2]

4. There are no guarantees about health nt