IVF patients across Australia fearing they've lost their only chance at having biological children are suing a major provider over the destruction of embryos that may have been viable.
Monash IVF is at the centre of a lawsuit filed in Victoria's Supreme Court on Wednesday, over a world-first non-invasive genetic testing program that has now been suspended.
More than 100 people have already expressed interest in the action but upward of 1000 could be affected, lead lawyer Michel Margalit told AAP.
Patients whose embryos underwent non-invasive genetic testing between May 2019 and October this year have been notified the testing program - provided through Monash IVF and Repromed - is on hold.
Ms Margalit said Monash IVF had lauded the program as the "next big thing", an alternative to widely used invasive testing of embryos.
Last year's annual report labelled the commercialisation of the technology as a world-first breakthrough, after completion of clinical trials during the year.
Rather than taking a biopsy of the embryo itself, the non-invasive method of genetic testing involved taking samples from a liquid culture around the embryo.
Testing identifies genetic abnormalities and where those are found, patients are given the option of keeping the embryos, destroying them or donating them to medical research.
But embryos may not have had abnormalities, and could have been viable.
"What we've found out now is (the non-invasive method) perhaps didn't go through the usual robust testing systems that you'd usually expect, which would include publication of the trial data when testing this type of technology, and peer review," Ms Margalit said.
Embryos still in storage could be re-tested with the invasive method but that would involve re-thawing, which could cause damage and render them useless.
The action is being led by 43-year-old Danielle Bopping whose last embryo was labelled abnormal after non-invasive testing.
"IVF is such a long and difficult road. The emotional impact of going through treatment is hard enough alone and then to have something like this happen has just compounded everything that we were already dealing with," she said.
Monash IVF has offered free treatment to patients affected, putting them in the same position they were before the embryos were tested.
But for some, that's not possible. Some patients may have given IVF their absolute last go as long as 18 months ago and are now unable to go through the process again.
"It's an age and time game for a lot of people in IVF," Ms Margalit said.
Participants are seeking damages for psychiatric injury, loss and damage including pain and suffering and the loss of opportunity to have genetically related children.
In its end of financial year statement this year, Monash IVF reported non-invasive genetic tests were up 2.8 per cent to more than 13,000.
Monash IVF had not responded to a request for comment by time of publication.
