Sofia Vergara's ex Nick Loeb wants their 'frozen embryos' to be born amid Alabama IVF ruling
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Modern Family' star Sofia Vergara's divorce from her husband Joe Manganiello was officially finalized last week in a somewhat straightforward manner.
After seven years of marriage, the 'Griselda' actress—who is among the highest actresses globally—divorced her spouse Joe in 2023. Joe was granted custody of the couple's chihuahua-pom, Bubbles, after "amicable" divorce proceedings.
In an interview, Sofia acknowledged that part of the reason for the divorce was that she "didn't want to be an old mum," while Joe "wanted to have kids."
Amid the ongoing divorce drama, Sofia's millionaire ex-fiance, Nick Loeb, wants their 'frozen embryos' to be born after keenly watching the Alabama IVF ruling that frozen embryos need to be treated like children.
Sofia Vergara and Nick Loeb created four embryos through IVF
Sofia, 51, confessed that she was considering becoming a grandma rather than a mother again. The glamorous actress has a 32-year-old son from a previous marriage, Manolo.
In the years between her two marriages, Sofia dated Nick Loeb, an American actor and businessman who is the descendant of the famous banking family that founded Lehman Brothers.
Nick was also a younger man, ten years Sofia's junior, yet they started dating in 2010 and spent the next four years getting engaged and starting a family.
They created four embryos using in-vitro fertilization (IVF). A surrogate received two implants, but there was no pregnancy, per Daily Mail.
The remaining two have endured the relationship of the couple who made them for a considerable amount of time.
Although his famous ex vehemently disapproves, Nick still wants to use these embryos, which are cryopreserved in a California lab and frozen in time.
Not only does Nick call the embryos "my children" or "my daughters," but he also mentions the names Emma and Isabella often in the Daily Mail interview, claiming that the pair decided on them during their fertility treatment.
Nick Loeb's insistence his embryos are children emerged amid Alabama IVF ruling
Nick, an anti-abortion campaigner, has been fighting for custody of these embryos and the ability to raise the potential children they could become for an unbelievable ten years now.
However, given the recent ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos should be treated as children, Nick's contention that his embryos are children seems less absurd.
Alabama IVF ruling ruling has created a new front in the national debate over reproductive rights.
In the ongoing US legal war over reproductive health, a new front has emerged with the ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos are children and that an individual may be held accountable for damaging them unintentionally, per BBC News.
Reproductive advocacy organizations and medical professionals issued warnings that the decision would have unfavorable effects on fertility treatments in Alabama and elsewhere.
Many healthcare organizations in the state have suspended IVF services as a result of the ruling, casting doubt on the treatment's future.
Pro-life advocates, including Nick, are closely monitoring this Alabama IVF ruling. His battle also revolves around the issue of whether a fetus or embryo is deemed a person by law.
"My embryos are in California, a state that doesn't recognize them as human persons, but if the US Supreme Court takes this up, it will have larger implications than for just IVF," he claimed.
Up until now, every court has rejected Nick's perceived "right," which amounts to pressuring a woman who no longer desires to be a biological mother into being one.
Alabama IVF ruling resulted from wrongful death lawsuit
The ruling came about as a result of a wrongful death lawsuit involving lost embryos at a fertility clinic in 2020.
One of the patients had ventured inside the embryo storage area, handled the embryos, and dropped them accidentally, destroying the embryos.
The couples attempted to file a lawsuit under the state's Wrongful Death of a Minor Act against the Center for Reproductive Medicine and the Mobile Infirmary Association.
A lower court had decided that a wrongful death claim could not proceed because the embryos did not meet the criteria to be considered persons or children.
However, the Alabama Supreme Court decided to rule in favor of the couples, declaring that frozen embryos were qualified as "children".
The ruling said that "all unborn children, regardless of their location" were covered by the wrongful death statute.
