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Man's £1m suit over sperm mix-up

Joseph Frazier,Oregon
Saturday 23 September 2006 19:00 EDT
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A man who donated sperm so that his fiancée could be inseminated is suing the hospital that gave the sample to the wrong woman.

The plaintiff, identified in court papers only as "MH", is seeking $2m (£1m) from Oregon Health & Sciences University. He also filed a separate lawsuit to determine whether a child was born. The hospital acknowledges that the man's sperm was used to inseminate a woman he had not intended it for, and said new safeguards had been implemented.

In September 2005 the man's sample was given to a woman who had been trying for years with her husband to start a family. The husband stated that after the insemination procedure, doctors told the couple of the mistake and asked them to return to the hospital "so that my wife could be given some medicine to make sure she did not become pregnant".

He and his wife "were not permitted to leave until my wife swallowed the medicine under the watchful eye of a nurse", the documents said. He also said that the fertility clinic offered a free abortion if she became pregnant "and two free artificial inseminations" if she didn't. The hospital declined to comment.

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