An Italian woman and her husband who were unable to get pregnant on their own visited a clinic in Rome for assistance. They did not know that a tragic mix-up would occur.

The couple, both psychologists in their forties, visited the fertility clinic Dec. 4. Three months later, they were told that the twins they were pregnant with weren't theirs; they biologically belonged to another couple.

After the clinic, located inside the Sandro Pertini hospital in Rome, informed the couple of the mistake, they were heartbroken. The couple has hired attorney Michele Ambrosini. Ambrosini had hoped for total confidentiality in this unfortunate mix-up, but word got out. He is now asking for the couple's privacy.

"They are in shock. Their grief and their privacy need to be respected," he said.

There's a few possibilities as to how this mix-up could have occurred.

One reason is a possible similarity in last names. The psychologists and another couple that visited the clinic that day have very similar last names. The two names are spelled with only three different letters, and they begin with the same letter. It's possible that one of the women thought it was their turn when a hospital worker mispronounced their name.

Another reason for the mistake could have been a simple test tube mix-up. Including the psychologists, there were a total of four couples. It's possible that the test tubes got mixed-up, and that's why the couple is having another couple's twins instead of their own.

Ambrosini wrote to the hospital to complain about their critical error. This prompted an immediate investigation of the mix-up by one of Rome's health authorities. The next step is to determine which couple is the actual parents of the twins that the psychologists will eventually birth. This can only be done by comparing the gentic profiles of the twins and all of the couples that were at the clinic Dec. 4.