Italy orders inquiry into embryo destruction

“I have lost everything and now I am demanding justice. But what can I do now? Tell me, what can I do?”

The couple lost twin boys when Federica went into premature labour in the 22nd week of her pregnancy in August last year and they had kept two other embryos aside at the facility.

“We buried those two boys, they have a grave,” she said. “The only consolation was thinking of the others that were there, one of them could have made it. It was the only hope I had.”

Rome prosecutors have launched an investigation and Air Liquid, the French multinational that provided liquid nitrogen used to freeze the embryos, eggs and sperm at the facility has begun its own internal inquiry.

“We are profoundly sorry,” said Andrea Saitta, director general of Air Liquide, in a statement. “We are also very sad for the consequences caused to the donor patients.”

Air Liquide said it “is providing maximum co-operation with the hospital to help identify the cause of the problem and prevent it from happening again in future”.

Professor Severino Antinori, the controversial gynaecologist known for implanting embryos in post-menopausal women, called for the closure of the centre and other similar facilities in areas around Rome.

Domenico Alessio, director-general of the San Filippo Neri Hospital, defended hospital’s procedures and said that the centre exercised “maximum legality and transparency” and “total respect for procedures and the highest professionalism”.

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