An external review is to examine the case of how a healthy unborn baby boy was aborted after his parents were wrongly advised he had a life-limiting condition.
Niall Buckley Senior Counsel is to conduct a review into the care provided to the baby’s parents, Rebecca Price and Pat Kiely during their pregnancy with the child, whom they named Christopher, and after the abortion in 2019.
The couple decided to abort their baby after being wrongfully advised that the child, a healthy baby boy, had a life-limiting condition. They were told that testing had indicated the presence of Trisomy 18, an indicator of Edwards Syndrome.
Two weeks after the abortion, a final result came through from the tests that had shown up the abnormality. Instead of confirming the result, which they had been told was definitive, the result showed that a catastrophic error had been made and that their child was healthy.
The parents of baby Christopher have spoken openly about the loss of their much-anticipated baby and have expressed anger at how they were treated, in the hope hope to prevent another family suffering the same loss
Bernard Gloster, HSE chief executive, who met with the couple in 2025 and gave them a full “unequivocal” apology on behalf of the health service, said on Thursday: “Following my meeting with Rebecca and Pat late last year, I committed to commending an independent external review of their case to understand what fully happened in relation to the care provided to them and ensure learning across our services.”
He added: “I have appointed Niall Buckley SC to chair this external review process and have published the terms of reference to support this work.”
The Independent Reviewer Mr Buckley SC is requested to complete the review process within a period of eight weeks or as soon thereafter as practicable and to produce a report to the Commissioner, according to the review’s terms of reference.
Following the HSE boss’s apology to the family last November, a group of medics called on the HSE to “seriously examine” whether parents are being offered abortion as a “default option” in maternal healthcare settings where it is thought the baby has a life-limiting condition.
‘THE RISK TO OTHER COUPLES HAS NOT BEEN ADDRESSED’
Back in 2021, speaking of the trauma related to the abortion of their child, Pat Kiely told the Irish Examiner: “We are different people than we were before this.
“Part of that is down to the tragedy, but the other thing is closure. There is still the ongoing risk as far as we are concerned. The risk to other couples has not been addressed.”
The defendants admitted liability in the High Court in June 2021 after the couple took a case. Ms Price and Mr Kiely – who is a paediatric orthopaedic consultant with Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) – brought separate legal actions over the abortion of their son, Christopher Joseph.
The defendants in the case were consultants Peter McParland, Fionnuala Higgins and Stephen Carroll, who, the Irish Independent reports, have a business partnership called the Merrion Foetal Health Clinic, as well as the National Maternity Hospital and Glasgow laboratory. They all conceded liability in full, with the only remaining issue before the courts being the assessment of damages.
The couple, who had found out they were expecting their first baby in Christmas Eve of 2018, decided to get a private ultrasound scan at the Merrion Foetal Health Clinic in February 2019 when Ms Price was around 12 weeks pregnant.
While the ultrasound was normal, Ms Price was advised to have a form of prenatal testing called the Harmony Test; a week later, she was told that the test was positive for Trisomy 18, which is recognised as a “fatal foetal abnormality” under the 2018 abortion act. A rapid test result sent to the Greater Glasgow Health Board for analysis also showed that the condition had been detected. The couple were told that their baby had the condition and that the pregnancy was “not viable.”
Ms Price said that she followed the advice that had been given to her by her consultant, Professor Fionnuala McAuliffe, and a abortion was carried out at the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin on 14th March 2019.
It was when a third test involving a fuller analysis of the baby’s chromosomes came back that the couple discovered their child did not in fact have trisomy 18.
A spokeswoman for Health Professionals for Life, which includes doctors, nurses and midwives, told Gript that the organisation is calling on the HSE to “seriously examine the prevailing culture” in maternity care settings “to assess whether a mindset of offering abortion as a default option after a severe diagnosis has taken root since Repeal”.
Extending condolences to the family of Baby Christopher, Margaret McGovern said that “a tragedy like this should never have happened.”
“If healthcare truly lived by the principle first, do no harm, then vulnerable parents, especially when frightened or overwhelmed would always be supported in a way that protects both mother and unborn child. Every baby’s life has value, and every family deserves care that upholds that dignity,” she said.
“In moments like this, families depend entirely on the accuracy and honesty of the information they are given. When diagnoses are rushed, incomplete, or presented as certainties, parents cannot make informed decisions that fully respect the life of their baby. This can lead to irreversible outcomes that no family ever intended or imagined,” Ms McGovern added.
“It is also a reality that many women experience deep pain or regret afterwards, especially if they felt they were not given the full picture, were overwhelmed with fear, or lacked the support needed to consider every life-affirming option. A compassionate healthcare system must acknowledge this and work to prevent it, not ignore or minimise it.”
“It is vital that a full investigation also looks at what seems to be a possibility of a shift in the culture in maternal healthcare,” she said.
Mr Gloster said he has asked Mr Buckley to examine “all of the elements” of the care provided to the baby’s parents and to make recommendations where appropriate.
“The review process will begin immediately and will be concluded i the quickest timefeame possible,” he said.
“I again absolutely acknowledge no words or actions can undo the loss suffered by Rebecca and Pat, but I hope the establishment of this review will allow us to better understand what went wrong in relation to their care and learn from it.”
The terms of reference say that the review “concerns the medical care and treatment of, advices to, and communication with Ms Price and Mr Kiely in relation to Ms Price’s pregnancy in 2019 and all matters relating to the termination of Ms Price’s pregnancy which was carried out at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street.”