When Sasha Szafranski matched with a stranger on a genealogy website, she uncovered an IVF mix-up that had been hidden for 30 years.<\/p>\n
Now the biological parents have taken legal action.<\/p>\n
Lawyers acting for Jacqueline and Richard Hensby-Davies, have told the ABC that a statement of claim has been issued against Royal North Shore Hospital.<\/p>\n
“Our clients were hopeful that a formal apology and compensation could be negotiated without the need for issue of court proceedings,” Bill Madden and Matilda Lynch of Carroll and O’Dea Lawyers said.<\/p>\n
“However, as the matter is complex that could not be achieved and so a statement of claim has now been filed in relation to the IVF error.”<\/p>\n
The lawyers added that the provision of care also involved another organisation and “investigations are continuing as to whether another defendant or defendants should be added to the claim”.<\/p>\n
Family left without answers after discovering embryo mix-up<\/p>\n
The embryo mix-up only came to light when Ms Szafranski tried to learn more about her father’s family by sending her DNA away for testing through the website Ancestry.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ms Szafranski told her story to the ABC in March, detailing her confusing DNA results and the eventual match she found with a woman she later learned was her biological aunt.<\/p>\n Further independent DNA testing showed Ms Szafranski and her twin sister were the biological children of Richard and Jacqueline Hensby-Davies, a couple who lived a 15-minute drive away from the childhood home of the twins in Coffs Harbour.<\/p>\n Investigations by the families showed that the Hensby-Davieses and the twins’ birth mother, Penny Szafranski, underwent IVF treatment at Royal North Shore Hospital’s fertility clinic at the same time in 1995.<\/p>\n Ms Szafranski fell pregnant at that time, but Ms Hensby-Davies did not.<\/p>\n Sasha Szafranski shared her family’s story with the ABC in March. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n In March, the Northern Sydney Local Health District, which controls Royal North Shore Hospital, said the hospital’s fertility unit was transferred to a company called North Shore A.R.T in August 1994.<\/p>\n The health district said it “did not operate the clinic after this time”.<\/p>\n August 1994 was eight months before the mistaken embryo transfer to Penny Szafranski occurred.<\/p>\n North Shore A.R.T no longer exists and was acquired in the early 2000s by another company, which was later acquired by IVF giant Virtus Health.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, a spokesperson for Virtus Health strongly denied it was responsible, saying the incident occurred before the company was established.<\/p>\n “In 1995, Virtus Health did not own or operate any entity associated with this incident,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n That stalemate meant both families were left to deal with a life-changing discovery, without any understanding of how the embryo mix-up occurred.<\/p>\n This case is Australia’s second-known instance of an IVF embryo mix-up where an embryo was transferred to the wrong family, and one of a series of incidents that has raised broader concerns about regulation in the sector.<\/p>\n![\"Sasha](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e19283667a9c8cf5d083f0bc175dd958.jpeg\")
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