An NHS hospital has told a British couple that because they
failed to tick a consent box form for a fertility treatment, they will be made
to adopt their own child.
The family division of the High Court heard the couple - who
for legal reasons identity cannot be made public - had fruitful treatment at a fertility
centre.
However strangely, after the child was conceived, a review
by the center found the mum had neglected to tick a container concurring that
her partner would be the lawful guardian of any child conceived from the
treatment.
The centre initially found the blunder in August 2014 - yet
the couple did not discover until March of the next year when they were advised
they could begin procedures to adopt their youngster.
The parents of the child got their treatment at the Hewitt
Fertility Center, which happens to be part of the Liverpool Women's Hospital
NHS Trust.
After the case was taken to the law court, the presiding judge
Mr Justice Peter Jackson decided that the couple were the legitimate parents of
the kid.
In a verdict made on July 5 this year he said: “The distress
caused by an unnecessary mistake of this kind cannot be overstated.
“It has caused this couple, like others in their position,
well over a year of anxiety and led them into completely needless legal
proceedings.”
He further added that: “The absence of no more than a
centimetre of ink in a tick box is nothing more than an understandable error.
“The failure to spot it was highly regrettable, but I have
no hesitation in finding that the consent required by the statute was given,
albeit that the form itself was incompletely completed.”
The court heard the facility had inspected 178 cases and
discovered four mistakes in their printed material - however it was revealed
that only one such case led to the birth of a child.
Mr Justice Jackson depicted the little tick box as a
precarious situation.
In his word: “I would invite the HFEA (Human Fertilisation
and Embryology Authority) to consider whether this part of the form is not in
fact superfluous at best and a potential trap at worst.”
He said the postponement of eight months in educating the
family regarding the blunder couldn't be advocated.
He included saying: All that said, this was treatment that
was professionally given in every other regard and has prompted the happiest of
results.
“I therefore bring the proceedings to an end with pleasure.”
A representative for the Women's stated that: “Liverpool
Women's NHS Foundation Trust is extremely sorry for our failure to ensure that
a consent form was correctly completed in the course of a couple’s fertility
treatment at the Hewitt Fertility Centre in 2009.
“We contacted the couple involved to apologise and offer
them support.
"This has included assistance with legal costs to
enable the non-birth partner to become the child’s legal parent.
“A rigorous investigation has examined every aspect of this
failure, resulting in additional training for all staff involved in the process
of consenting would-be parents and their partners.
“We have also added additional safeguarding checks into the
consenting process to minimise the risk of such an error occurring again.
“We are very aware of the distress this failure will have
caused to the couple. We are delighted that the court’s recent decision has
enabled the non-birth partner to be recognised as the legal parent.”
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