06 Sep 10 LabCorp’s False Positive HIV Mistake of Egg Donor

LabCorp’s false positive HIV mistake will have long-lasting impact on Jim’s life. Here’s the email he sent me:

My wife and I cannot not have children on our own. That was devastating when we found out and it changed the course of our lives. Having babies is free right? Should be easy, right? Or so I thought.

Now, we were searching for solutions. Regardless of the sad news of us not able to conceive, we decided on egg donation. The reason why is so that my wife and I can experience the beauty of the birth experience. We also wanted to experience the joy of watching as a baby emerge from her womb, crying for protection, then quieting down when being cradled in my arms.

None of that would happen now. We used the services of Dr. Aykut Bayrak at the Pacific Reproductive Center in Glendale, Ca. When getting ready for IVF the donor must go through a series of blood test, one of them is HIV.

We had selected our donor from a website. I wanted my wife to select someone who looked just like her. We found a beautiful young lady named Amber, who looked like my wife when she in her 20’s. We thought we could not lose with Amber because she was an experienced donor, whose contributions resulted in several infants. We were excited and confident.

Then Labcorb came into the picture. When Amber’s blood test was given to Lab Corp for HIV testing the result came back ‘positive’. At first we were shocked! With a result of being HIV resulted her being automatically canceled as our donor. So what is the real problem here. SHE WAS NOT HIV POSITIVE! When she re-took the test it showed that she was HIV negative. We were relieved for Amber, but the Lab Corp result cost us a couple thousand of dollars for Amber’s tests, medicine, and care during this process. All for naught. Because of Federal rules that any donor who tests positive for HIV cannot donate their eggs, even if she test HIV negative later.

So we were forced to search for another donor. We found one whose eggs eventually failed to produce. Amber was the perfect donor since she was experienced and had proven results. The donor was someone not experienced. With the second donor we ‘ordered’ the Dr. Bayrak not to use Lab Corp. If he refused, we would have fired him on the spot and simply found another fertility clinic to work with. He complied and another lab was used.

The Lab Corp result may not have directly resulted in us not having children (so far), but three things for sure.

(1) We lost a perfectly good donor in Amber,

(2) We had to financially start over with the same test, medicine, and care for the new donor,

(3) It crushed our spirit.

I will be sure to request any lab professional I deal with, from my doctor or any social worker, that if Lab Corp is involved in their testing, we will simply walk away.

Jim

Reader's Comments

Summer | 13 Oct 2010 7:56 pm
I am a medical technologist, one who does HIV tests. Tests can be positive as they are Screening tests only, with a more advanced test for confirmation needed.
Testing is reported as presumptive HIV with a final only after confirmatory test is done. Only then is the test called positive. The first test is for antibodies to HIV, while the confirmatory test is for actual virus.
All testing can carry false positives and that is why a confirmatory is done. False positives means the assay can detect all HIV and not miss one. If a test is set too low in parameters, it can give false negatives.
SO it sounds correct protocol was done, and second test was negative – the final answer.
Hopefully the person giving you the results knows the right conclusion.
False positives are set low but ensure ALL of what you are searching for is catch with the screen. Tests set which have no false positives often miss some positive results. Confirmatory tests are required by law in order to give a final result.
Why did you not wait on the results from her retest? Sounds like many factors are at play.
Sorry you feel so wronged. Hopefully better days are ahead.
Jim | 02 Feb 2011 5:18 pm
Excuse me with the bullshit, but I used to work as a lab tech. YOU GUYS REPORTED TO MY FERTILITY DOCTOR THAT MY DONOR WAS HIV POSITIVE.

If she was positive most labs usually re-test the samples to make sure it’s true. Then if it is a false positive, the report comes back as HIV Negative. That did not happen!

Because (1) you people reported her as HIV Positive. At that point, it does not matter. The FDA rules say that once a donor is POSTIVE, she can no longer donate, even if it is a False POSITIVE.

I don’t feel wronged! I WAS WRONGED!
Why did I not wait on the results from her retest? Don’t you dare point the finger at us! WE WERE WRONGED. You people run a mill over there and that is why sooooo many people think your company sucks!
Jessica | 06 May 2011 5:46 pm
I’m so glad I found this site.And to think I was about for a DNA paternity test with this company!I wish you much success Jim!Thats just DOWN RIGHT WRONG what they’ve done!