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5 families sue Houston fertility clinic for ‘knowingly’ implanting dead or damaged embryos

Lab staff prepare small petri dishes, each holding several 1-7 day old embryos, for cells to be extracted from each embryo to test for viability at the Aspire Houston Fertility Institute in vitro fertilization lab Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Houston. Women over 35 and those facing serious diseases like cancer, lupus and sickle cell are among the most likely to turn to IVF to build the families they desperately want. But in Alabama, they are among those whose dreams are in limbo after three of the state's largest clinics paused IVF services. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke) (Michael Wyke, Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

HOUSTON – A west Houston fertility clinic is facing a class action lawsuit after five hopeful mothers say they were knowingly implanted with dead or damaged embryos.

The lawsuit alleges that Aspire Houston Fertility Institute had a massive laboratory failure at its Piney Point facility in February and March of this year. The failure reportedly impacted the embryo freezing process, killing or damaging them.

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Despite knowing of this problem, attorneys for the five families say the clinic continued implanting dead or damaged embryos for six months after the failure, which led to pregnancy rates dropping to near zero.

Couples hoping to become parents say the clinic needs to be held accountable.

“Aspire knew of these issues when they were happening,” said Nicole Alarcon, who underwent three unsuccessful embryo transfer procedures.

“They kept us completely in the dark. They failed to tell us about it, and really set us up for a lot of heartache.”

Attorney Rob Marcereau is demanding answers to prevent an incident like this from happening in the future.

“For many of these couples, this was their last chance to have biological children,” Marcereau said.

We reached out to Aspire for comment but have not heard back.

A trial date has not been set yet.


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