by Jamie Stephens

jstephens@thekmgroup.co.uk

A distraught woman is shocked and angry after a Canterbury clinic admitted it had lost her frozen embryos.

Alison Austin-Hennessy, 31, only found out by chance after going in to the Chaucer Hospital in Canterbury last month to fill out some routine paperwork.

"I asked them about frozen embryo transfer at which point the embryologist left the room and returned with a lady.

"They then sat down and asked me whether I was sure I'd brought the embryos to that hospital."

"I thought they were kidding as I took them in myself and there's no way I forget which hospital I'd taken them to."

The consultant then explained there was no documentation for the embryos at all apart from a small slip of paper that read 'all thawed'.

"I couldn't believe it. I was physically sick at the news. There wasn't even a date on the paper or a signature."

Alison and her husband Michael now don't know whether the embryos had been disposed off or - even worse - implanted into someone else.

"The consultant explained that we will probably never know what happened to them. I'm in complete shock. It's heartbreaking to think another couple may have had our child."

Alison, from Ramsgate, had her fallopian tubes removed at 19 as a result of an infection.

"The couple were able to conceive their only child Roman after two unsuccesful rounds of IVF in 2007. There remained 22 eggs, half of which were donated to another couple whilst the others were injected with Michael's sperm and turned into four embryos.

"it's heartbreaking to think another couple may have had our child... ” – alison austin-hennessy

"The ones that were lost were from eggs taken when I was 21 and so were the embryos with the best chance of being successful. I can't help thinking that when I lost those, I lost the chance of ever having another baby."

A hospital audit in 2007 showed the two embryos as present but another audit two years later revealed they had vanished. The couple have now lodged a formal complaint against the hospital.

A spokesman for BMI Healthcare, which runs the clinic, said they were unable to comment on individual cases due to patient confidentiality, but that they had robust processes in place for the handling and storage of embryos.

They are now carrying out a full investigation into what happened, but say they are extremely confident there have been no errors with regard to implantation of any embryos and any patients who have received treatment at the unit should not be concerned.

The couple have spent £15,000 on fertility treatment as they were hoping to have another child. That was planned for Christmas but has now been put on hold.

"There are only two embryos left and since they implant two at a time, this is quite literally my last chance to have any more children. There is no way I'm in any fit state to even consider that at the moment. The pressure is enormous."

"There is no good that can come from this and no possible positive outcome for us. We feel robbed."