An Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos can be considered "extrauterine children" under state law has major implications for how in vitro fertilization, commonly called IVF, is performed.
The ruling came in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed in an accident at a fertility clinic in Mobile, Ala. The court agreed with the couples that the embryos were protected under the state's Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. Legal and reproductive medicine experts say the ruling raises the risks and costs of IVF for both patients and medical practitioners.
