Los Angeles fertility clinic Reproductive Partners Medical Group sued for allegedly throwing away couple’s embryos

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A heartbroken couple say their hopes of starting a family were dashed after a Southern California fertility clinic threw away their embryos.

A careless mistake may have cost Marissa Calhoun and Stephen Castaneda their dream of having children together forever.

“Our embryos, the very ones that represented our dream of a family, were thrown away,” Calhoun said.

Since 2021, Calhoun says he has undergone three painful egg retrievals.

Last October, her eggs were fertilized and placed in an incubator to develop into 16 viable embryos.

The couple entrusted the storage of their embryos to Reproductive Partners Medical Group, or RPMG.

“RPMG ultimately admitted that an employee failed to label the embryos before placing them in the incubator and then removed the unlabeled embryos from the incubator and simply threw them away,” said attorney Adam Wolf, who represents the couple.

The couple and Wolf are suing RPMG for reckless negligence, filing a complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

“For nearly two decades, my doctors told me that my chances of conceiving a child naturally were extremely low and that IVF was my best option for becoming a mother,” Calhoun said.

In a statement to Eyewitness News, Reproductive Partners Medical Group called the incident “regrettable, unintentional and isolated.”

The statement continued: “We can confidently assure every RPMG patient that their eggs and embryos were in no way affected in this isolated incident.”

The couple’s chances of having a biological child are likely over, but they hope their story will help change the way fertility clinic mistakes are reported.

“We think it’s critical that the public be aware that these kinds of problems are happening,” Wolf said.

RPMG’s full statement is below:

“We are aware of the recently filed complaint, which describes an unfortunate, unintentional and isolated incident involving a patient. We have been proactively communicating with this patient since the day it occurred. We have been and continue to be committed to open and direct communication and support.

We can confidently assure every RPMG patient that their eggs and embryos were in no way affected in this isolated incident.

Reproductive Partners Medical Group has a long-standing reputation in Los Angeles for the highest quality standards, and we have helped deliver 25,000 babies. In this situation, as in all others, we are committed to supporting each of our patients with empathy and compassion on their journey toward achieving their desired goals.