A US court has declared that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) are to be legally considered as children. The decision, which could have widespread implications for fertility clinics, resurrects the debate over when life begins. Amid a national push to define fetuses as people, it could have far-reaching consequences for women who undergo infertility treatments. NPR’s All Things Considered host Ailsa Chang speaks with UC Davis law professor Mary Ziegler about the possible downstream legal implications for people who seek infertility treatments.
The ruling comes out of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by two sets of parents who had undergone IVF. In December 2020, a patient at a hospital in Mobile wandered into the clinic’s cryogenic nursery and removed several embryos. The subzero temperatures freeze-burned her hand, and she dropped the embryos on the floor – ultimately killing them. The lawsuit argued that the medical facility violated the law by failing to secure the storage unit and create safeguards. Still, a trial court dismissed the case because “cryopreserved in vitro embryos do not fit within the definition of a person or child.”
The Alabama Supreme Court has now overturned that decision. The ruling held significant consequences, asserting that frozen embryos are the same as children and fall under legislation dealing with the wrongful death of a minor if destroyed. The court’s decision was a victory for reproductive rights advocates, who have long sought to have the courts treat embryos like children in cases where there are allegations of negligence or wrongdoing by those involved.
Reproductive rights experts say the court’s decision could have ripple effects beyond Alabama, and other states may be inclined to try to replicate this type of legislation that defines a fetus as a person. Across the country, patients who fail to carry a pregnancy to term often choose to have the embryos frozen. That can cost them hundreds of dollars each year in storage fees, and if they eventually decide they do not want to use those embryos, they have the option to donate them to research or another family.
But critics say establishing that frozen embryos are the same as children will send those storage costs skyrocketing, making fertility treatment unaffordable for many families, and it will discourage medical providers from performing infertility procedures out of fear they could be held liable each time an embryo doesn’t successfully implant. They also warn that the court’s ruling puts the issue of when life begins back into national focus. In the past, states have tended to copy each other’s legislation, so this could soon lead to a national push to define fetal life as a person.
