Hospital apologizes for embryo mix-up

TOKYO, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- A hospital in Kagawa, Japan, has apologized for a mix-up that implanted the fertilized egg of a woman in her 40s into a woman in her 20s.

The pregnancy was terminated after nine weeks when doctors realized the fetus was not developing properly because the woman in her 20s may have been implanted with an egg assessed as unsuitable and destined for disposal, said officials at Kagawa Prefectural Central Hospital.

The mix-up occurred last September and the pregnancy was terminated in October, but the case only became public last week, Kyodo reported Sunday.

The attending obstetrician, Dr. Kiyoya Kawada, has performed an estimated 1,000 embryo transplants at the hospital, the Japanese news agency said.