UPDATE
12:00 PM PT — Legal bigshot, Adam Wolf, partner at Peiffer Wolf, said, “What makes this case so outrageous is that RPMG not only failed to label Marissa and Stephen’s embryos, but then threw away those unlabeled embryos without any thought or concern. Then RPMG repeatedly failed to disclose their records of this disaster. Instead of providing a full set of records, as it was required, RPMG provided incomplete records on three separate occasions. RPMG gaslighted Marissa and Stephen. This is no way to treat any patient, let alone people who trusted you to start their family.”
A popular IVF clinic frequented by the likes of former patients including Kim Kardashian, Chrissy Teigen and Paris Hilton threw a couple’s precious embryos in the trash, and now they may not be able to have kids … at least according to a new lawsuit.
Reproductive Partners Medical Group, a Los Angeles-based fertility clinic, is being sued by Marissa Calhoun and Stephen Castaneda … a couple of everyday people who say the clinic sabotaged their dream of having children.
In the docs, obtained by TMZ, the couple claims Marissa had her eggs retrieved, frozen and stored by RPMG in 2021 and 2022 … but says tragedy struck in October 2023 when the IVF clinic made a huge error.
The couple claims in October 2023 they decided to fertilize Marissa’s stored eggs with Stephen’s sperm, under the advisement of Dr. Andy Huang. They say by late October 2023, RPMG told them the eggs had been fertilized and would be placed in an incubator to grow into viable embryos.
Good news, or so they thought. Instead, the couple claims only a few days later, Dr. Huang called them up and told them RPMG had discarded and thus destroyed all of their embryos.
In the suit, the couple says they had to pull teeth to get more info on what all happened to their embryos … and they say RPMG eventually admitted one of its employees had not labeled their embryos before placing them in the incubator … and then took the unlabeled embryos out of the incubator and “intentionally threw them away.”
TMZ Studios
The couple says they asked RPMG for their records to help understand how this allegedly happened, but they say the clinic provided incomplete sets of records on 3 occasions, with the records stopping before the point where the embryos were thrown out.
In the docs, the couple claims the clinic failed to have policies, procedures and adequate training for their employees to ensure all embryos placed into incubators would be labeled and that any unlabeled embryos would be handled appropriately.
Dr. Huang has a great reputation among Hollywood moms … making frequent appearances on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” after helping Kim get pregnant with her second child, Saint West.
The doc has also treated Kim’s younger sister, Khloe Kardashian, who welcomed her second child with Tristan Thompson — a son named Tatum — via surrogacy.
But, this couple claims Dr. Huang’s clinic dropped the ball in their case … and now they may not be able to become biological parents. They’re going after RMPG for damages.
