What rules would Home and Away's IVF clinic have to follow?

Mackenzie and Levi were left devastated in Home and Away's UK episodes recently after learning that all of their frozen embryos have been destroyed. Levi demands answers and considers legal action, while Mackenzie ultimately decides she cannot face another round of IVF.

The storyline leaves the cause of the destruction central to their anger, but real assisted reproductive technology providers in New South Wales operate under detailed rules covering registration, consent, storage and long-term record keeping.

What must an IVF provider record?

Registered providers must keep extensive records about people undergoing assisted reproductive treatment and, where relevant, donors. NSW rules also require many ART records to be kept for 50 years, while certain older records must be retained for even longer.

Destroying or falsifying required ART records is itself an offence. That does not mean every accidental loss of embryos automatically amounts to a criminal offence, because the circumstances of what happened would need to be established separately.

Consent is another central part of the system. Genetic material must generally be used in ways consistent with the consent given by the person who provided it, while specific rules govern donated eggs, sperm and embryos.

What if embryos are lost or destroyed?

The legal position would depend heavily on why the embryos were destroyed, what consent documents said and whether the provider followed its regulatory and contractual obligations. An equipment failure, authorised disposal and a clinic mistake could all raise very different issues.

That means Levi's immediate demand for legal action would realistically require much more information first. The couple would need to know exactly what happened, when it happened and whether the clinic breached duties owed to them.

In the episodes airing through 9 October, Mackenzie is more focused on grief than litigation and eventually decides against further IVF. The real rules show why a clinic facing such a loss would nevertheless need detailed records capable of explaining what happened.

Home and Away streams on 5 from 6am on weekdays and airs on 5STAR. Images: Channel 5 / Seven Network

Sources: NSW Health ART guidance and the Assisted Reproductive Technology Act.