A MAN has discovered two children he did not know existed after his estranged wife gave birth using embryos the couple created together.

When the couple separated, she forged his signature on consent forms so she could have the frozen embryos implanted in her womb.

The woman then had two children from separate pregnancies without her husband’s knowledge. He found out only when one of the children became seriously ill and a relative contacted him to tell him about the offspring he never knew he had.

The husband has sought legal advice about suing Bourn Hall clinic, near Cambridge, where his wife was treated.

Lawyers and fertility doctors believe there may be other estranged wives who have had children without their husband’s consent, using embryos frozen while the couple were together.

Clinics must obtain written consent from the male in the relationship to use an embryo created with his sperm but they do not need to insist that he attends the clinic.

Muiris Lyons, a partner in the firm Irwin Mitchell, who special-ises in IVF law, said: “This is the first case of its kind that I have been aware of and it underlines the importance of IVF clinics ensuring they obtain proper consent.

“It appears that clinics do not need to ensure they have valid consent at all – they are protected just because they have a signed piece of paper. The clinics do not have to go beyond the consent form even if there is reason to suspect that the circumstances may have changed.”

Fertility doctors say they have no way of knowing if they have been tricked into helping women become pregnant when their husbands no longer consent to their embryos being used.

Dr Kamal Ahuja, scientific and managing director of the London Women’s Clinic, said they had had a near-miss two years ago.

Doctors at the clinic were about to implant embryos into a woman’s womb when they discovered that she had been lying to them about her husband’s consent.

Ahuja added: “We were almost hoodwinked and I would imagine this is not rare.”

The high-profile case of Natallie Evans last year turned the spotlight on the potential problems where a couple have joint ownership of an embryo.

Evans, from Trowbridge, Wilt-shire, created six embryos with Howard Johnston, her lover at the time, before she had treatment for ovarian cancer in 2001. By the time she wanted to use them, the couple had split up and he withheld his consent. She was barred by a British court from trying for a child without his consent, and lost her final appeal against this in the European Court last April.

Research by fertility doctors at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London two years ago found that 40% of British fertility clinics have been duped into treating patients using false identities or lying about their age or the potential father.

Dr Thomas Mathews, medical director of Bourn Hall clinic, said: “I am aware of at least one definite case where a woman has deceived us into implanting embryos without her husband’s consent. Before we started checking identity documents like passports or NHS cards, the main kind of deception was lying about their age.

“We have never insisted that couples should be married to be eligible for assisted conception treatment. It is therefore impossible to know if the man that comes to the clinic with a woman is really her husband or partner, and there have been instances where we have had our suspicions.

“We now photograph every couple at the first visit, and check their photographic identity at every subsequent visit.”

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority says it advises clinics to see both parents when frozen embryos are being implanted, but this is not a legal obligation.

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