Triplets' parents win right to damages for extra child

A couple who had triplets through in vitro fertilisation won an unprecedented compensation claim last week against a clinic that implanted three embryos instead of the two that the couple told the High Court in Sheffield they had agreed to.

Peter and Patricia Thompson of Thrybergh, South Yorkshire, successfully sued the Sheffield infertility centre for breach of contract over the birth of two boys and a girl in March 1997.

The couple had signed a consent form after their initial consultation that stated that they had agreed to have two embryos …