Mom is carrying wrong kids after mix-up

A pregnant Italian woman was "shocked" to learn that the twins she is carrying thanks to IVF treatment are not her own, following a hospital mix-up.

Inspectors were due yesterday to visit Pertini Hospital in Rome, where the treatment occurred, after the woman underwent a pre-natal check that revealed her unborn children possessed different DNA to her and her husband.

The woman, who has not been named, underwent IVF treatment on December 4 at the same time as three other women. One of the other women had a similar surname to hers, Italian press reported yesterday. Their surnames were identical except for three letters.

Staff might have mixed up the embryos ready for insertion, or the women might have responded to the wrong name when they were called from the waiting room to undergo treatment, reports suggested.

The case is another blow to the reputation of Italy's medical profession after the sentence of life imprisonment handed last week to Milan surgeon Paolo Brega Massone. He was accused of carrying out unnecessary operations - that killed four people - to increase his earnings from the national health service.