Embryo mix-up clinic linked to ex-HK financial chief’s group with medical heavyweights among advisers

Heal Fertility, the fertility clinic at the centre of an embryo biopsy sample mix-up that has triggered a police investigation, is part of the New Frontier medical group founded by former Financial Secretary Antony Leung and former Blackstone managing director Carl Wu.

Prominent medical figures including former Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing-man and Sophia Chan, former Hospital Authority chairman Edward Leong, and microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung serve as advisers to the group.

The clinic, which opened in May 2023, is a licensed day medical centre under the Council on Human Reproductive Technology, offering 17 assisted reproductive services including in-vitro fertilisation, intracytoplasmic sperm injection and embryo transfer.

The New Frontier group operates 32 hospitals across 77 cities in Hong Kong and the mainland, with more than 9,000 beds.

Heal Fertility's professional team comprises five reproductive medicine specialists, obstetricians and gynaecologists, and a registered Chinese medicine practitioner. The centre operates its own operating theatre and embryology laboratory, with strict environmental and air quality controls.

The centre introduced advanced monitoring systems including EmbryoScope time-lapse monitoring and a RI Witness system designed to prevent sample mix-ups by maintaining A-grade air quality and providing full-spectrum monitoring of the IVF process.

The Council on Human Reproductive Technology announced on Tuesday that multiple embryo biopsy samples sent for genetic testing did not match the genetic profiles of the prospective parents. Of eight questionable samples, seven have been traced back to their actual biological parents, while one remains unidentified.

The clinic has been ordered to suspend most services pending investigation. The case has been reported to police.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓