Five Couples Sue Texas Fertility Clinic Claiming They Were Implanted Damaged And Dead Embryos

Five couples are suing Aspire Houston Fertility Institute, accusing the clinic of knowingly implanting damaged or dead embryos following a laboratory failure earlier this year.

The lawsuit, filed in Harris County District Court, according to KHOU reports, alleges the clinic continued to use compromised embryos for in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures for six months without informing patients.

The plaintiffs claim a malfunction at Aspire's Piney Point lab in February and March led to the damage or death of frozen embryos. Despite awareness of the issue, the lawsuit says Aspire proceeded with the transfers, leading to near-zero pregnancy success rates.

Some families had their last viable embryos used, said Robert H. Marcereau, one of the attorneys in a recent press conference.

"This was probably their last chance to have biological children, because some of our clients are older—these were their last embryos and their last shot," said Marcereau.

One of the plaintiffs, Nicole Alarcón and her husband Agustín, said they endured three unsuccessful IVF attempts before learning the embryos had been compromised. "They kept us completely in the dark," Alarcon said at a news conference. The couple claimed to have used most of their life savings to pay for the procedures.

"They failed to tell us about it and really set us up for a lot of heartbreak."

Aspire has denied the allegations, stating that at no time did they knowingly transfer non-viable embryos. The fertility clinic and the equipment manufacturer, CooperSurgical, are named as defendants in the lawsuit, which seeks more than $1 million in damages for each plaintiff.

A trial date has not yet been set.