April 10, 2025 • 6 mins
IVF Baby Mix Up - Who Gets To Keep The Baby? Lawyer Weighs In!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Rowing and Hid now with Correos the podcast talking about
the biggest headline in Brisbane today, which is an IVF
baby who has been found to have been implanted into
the wrong mum. So they went through with the pregnancy,
went through with the birth, and probably were working out
the dates of sketchy but maybe about a year old,
(00:23):
and have now discovered that's not your biological baby. I
can speak to this with a fair bit of personal
experience in that you know, Siena, our little girl now
who's ten months today, was an IVF baby. Like we
we went through the through that process. We're really fortunate
that we had her on our first try. But so
we've got three frozen embryos right now in waiting, ready
(00:46):
to go, ready to go, and so and at ten
months like this, if this baby is around the same age,
and you're even if it's someone else's baby biologically like,
that's that's our baby. Like if I found out that
Siena was not my biological like, that's that's our baby.
Now you were fully attached. There's no way that that
(01:08):
There's no way in the world I would hand that
baby back to anybody.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Except though, what if the people whose embryo it is,
or the woman whose embryo it is, this is her
last egg, her last chance. She's older. Yeah, and there
is no other opportunity, and someone else has had her baby.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
I mean, it's it's the worst case scenario, but you'd
have to I'm so sorry that that's happened to you,
But there's no way I'm giving you back this baby.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
I don't even know it would be up to you.
I think that there will be legal rapifications for this.
I think someone else will decide.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Is it because if she carried it and yes.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
And everything else, you can have those sort of surrogacy laws.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
But this is this.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Is not willing. These are not people who have willingly
sorted out an agreement where everyone's happy. And it will
take one litigation from one side and the whole thing
ends up in court and someone else will decide. I
am sure, but I'm curious. What would you do, Corey
if that was a baby that you'd had for ten
months of your life? Oh, if it was Hucks, it's
(02:15):
way too much like you, But I know, yeah, it'd
be hard to give it, To give the baby away,
I would really struggle.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Would you share? Would you allow that customer, would you share, Well,
that's interesting.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Would you allow that other couple or family into your
life in some way?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I just don't think you could. I mean you think
about like people don't hand people who have a puppy
in their house for two weeks won't give it back
because they're attached. Right, there's a baby for a year
or near near about would you.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Do Okay, let me throw one more scenario into this mix.
You make that decision, but then you actually have to
tell your child when they're old enough, at whatever age,
that that was the decision that was made on their behalf.
So you know, like there's so many components here, and
I mean, I think we should probably try and get
a lawyer or something where this will.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Go because it is such a balls up what's happened there, though,
like can you that's a mistake, is so bad thinking
about it, it's I'd never want to be in there.
I just want to be in there. And that's what
you really feel for these families. I would meet them.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
I would meet that family, and I would try and
find a way forward. You'd have to my conscience wouldn't
have to do it.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Like without doing that, I really wouldn't I just you
have to do that that if it got nasty, Yeah,
that's right, and then all of a sudden, when it's
out of your hands, when it's not rational thought, it
comes down to a lawyer or a judge making a
decision about that your baby.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Armstrong from Best Wilson Buckley Family Law.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Hello Lynn, good morning.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Hello, thanks for joining us. So what what do you know?
What the legal stuf sandpoint is to who this baby
belongs to?
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Oh, look, I think it's a really difficult case and
to a large degree, we're going to have to see
if the family court becomes involved in this. And of
course there's other law courts that could be involved as well,
including around medical negligence and contract law and all sorts
of things. But as far as the family courts concern,
(04:23):
it's likely that they would firstly look at what's in
the best interests of the child, and that's a really
big thing to look at. And it may be that
if a claim was made that there would be an
appropriate claim made by both of the sets of parents,
so the parents that had the embryo. Technically, an embryo
(04:48):
is class as property once a baby's born. Of course,
that's no longer property. So there's a lot to look
at here.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
If you were going to defend or you know, work
on one of these cases, which one, which side do
you think would be most likely? And when the people
that have the baby now or the people that biologically
have created the baby created thank you?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
It certainly the court would look at the best interest
of the child. And of course one of the things
they look at is where the child has their relationships,
because that's absolutely huge and family law. So it's my
view that the parents that have the child are likely
to continue to have the child, but it may be
(05:35):
that the other parents do have to claim because it'd
be similar to if, for example, a father finds out
that he's a father to a baby and doesn't know
about it until the baby's a few years old, they
are able to make an application for time.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
So it's sharing, I mean, rather than it's not like it.
Not one family will get in, the other won't. Potentially
they'll try and be something because how do you ask
a one year old what they want?
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Yeah, exactly, war Yeah, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
You make our sound.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
But it's the time that's the problem. It's just like
that nearly won like it happened in the first month,
like in the first month, that that's not your baby.
You take it. It's a pain in the ass, but
never shuts up.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you did say that out loud.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Now now I will fight to the death the first month.
Take it. If you didn't remember their birthday, I don't
remember weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
I can't defend you sometimes
Rowing and Hid now with Correos the podcast talking about
the biggest headline in Brisbane today, which is an IVF
baby who has been found to have been implanted into
the wrong mum. So they went through with the pregnancy,
went through with the birth, and probably were working out
the dates of sketchy but maybe about a year old,
(00:23):
and have now discovered that's not your biological baby. I
can speak to this with a fair bit of personal
experience in that you know, Siena, our little girl now
who's ten months today, was an IVF baby. Like we
we went through the through that process. We're really fortunate
that we had her on our first try. But so
we've got three frozen embryos right now in waiting, ready
(00:46):
to go, ready to go, and so and at ten
months like this, if this baby is around the same age,
and you're even if it's someone else's baby biologically like,
that's that's our baby. Like if I found out that
Siena was not my biological like, that's that's our baby.
Now you were fully attached. There's no way that that
(01:08):
There's no way in the world I would hand that
baby back to anybody.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Except though, what if the people whose embryo it is,
or the woman whose embryo it is, this is her
last egg, her last chance. She's older. Yeah, and there
is no other opportunity, and someone else has had her baby.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
I mean, it's it's the worst case scenario, but you'd
have to I'm so sorry that that's happened to you,
But there's no way I'm giving you back this baby.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
I don't even know it would be up to you.
I think that there will be legal rapifications for this.
I think someone else will decide.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Is it because if she carried it and yes.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
And everything else, you can have those sort of surrogacy laws.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
But this is this.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Is not willing. These are not people who have willingly
sorted out an agreement where everyone's happy. And it will
take one litigation from one side and the whole thing
ends up in court and someone else will decide. I
am sure, but I'm curious. What would you do, Corey
if that was a baby that you'd had for ten
months of your life? Oh, if it was Hucks, it's
(02:15):
way too much like you, But I know, yeah, it'd
be hard to give it, To give the baby away,
I would really struggle.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Would you share? Would you allow that customer, would you share, Well,
that's interesting.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Would you allow that other couple or family into your
life in some way?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I just don't think you could. I mean you think
about like people don't hand people who have a puppy
in their house for two weeks won't give it back
because they're attached. Right, there's a baby for a year
or near near about would you.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Do Okay, let me throw one more scenario into this mix.
You make that decision, but then you actually have to
tell your child when they're old enough, at whatever age,
that that was the decision that was made on their behalf.
So you know, like there's so many components here, and
I mean, I think we should probably try and get
a lawyer or something where this will.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Go because it is such a balls up what's happened there, though,
like can you that's a mistake, is so bad thinking
about it, it's I'd never want to be in there.
I just want to be in there. And that's what
you really feel for these families. I would meet them.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
I would meet that family, and I would try and
find a way forward. You'd have to my conscience wouldn't
have to do it.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Like without doing that, I really wouldn't I just you
have to do that that if it got nasty, Yeah,
that's right, and then all of a sudden, when it's
out of your hands, when it's not rational thought, it
comes down to a lawyer or a judge making a
decision about that your baby.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Armstrong from Best Wilson Buckley Family Law.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Hello Lynn, good morning.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Hello, thanks for joining us. So what what do you know?
What the legal stuf sandpoint is to who this baby
belongs to?
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Oh, look, I think it's a really difficult case and
to a large degree, we're going to have to see
if the family court becomes involved in this. And of
course there's other law courts that could be involved as well,
including around medical negligence and contract law and all sorts
of things. But as far as the family courts concern,
(04:23):
it's likely that they would firstly look at what's in
the best interests of the child, and that's a really
big thing to look at. And it may be that
if a claim was made that there would be an
appropriate claim made by both of the sets of parents,
so the parents that had the embryo. Technically, an embryo
(04:48):
is class as property once a baby's born. Of course,
that's no longer property. So there's a lot to look
at here.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
If you were going to defend or you know, work
on one of these cases, which one, which side do
you think would be most likely? And when the people
that have the baby now or the people that biologically
have created the baby created thank you?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
It certainly the court would look at the best interest
of the child. And of course one of the things
they look at is where the child has their relationships,
because that's absolutely huge and family law. So it's my
view that the parents that have the child are likely
to continue to have the child, but it may be
(05:35):
that the other parents do have to claim because it'd
be similar to if, for example, a father finds out
that he's a father to a baby and doesn't know
about it until the baby's a few years old, they
are able to make an application for time.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
So it's sharing, I mean, rather than it's not like it.
Not one family will get in, the other won't. Potentially
they'll try and be something because how do you ask
a one year old what they want?
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Yeah, exactly, war Yeah, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
You make our sound.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
But it's the time that's the problem. It's just like
that nearly won like it happened in the first month,
like in the first month, that that's not your baby.
You take it. It's a pain in the ass, but
never shuts up.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you did say that out loud.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Now now I will fight to the death the first month.
Take it. If you didn't remember their birthday, I don't
remember weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
I can't defend you sometimes
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