NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Louisiana in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment clinics are concerned by the implications of a new Alabama Supreme Court ruling that said frozen embryos are children.

Medical experts in Louisiana fear a similar ruling could happen here.

Reproductive endocrinologist and fertility expert Dr. Nicole Ulrich of Audubon Fertility said she’s disappointed by the Alabama decision.

“A feeling of dismay. Shock and dismay, honestly. It’s very upsetting,” Ulrich said.

She said a law that bestows personhood to embryos can pose significant challenges to IVF and fertility treatments.

“It can be difficult if an embryo is considered a person in that context, because we know as a part of IVF not every embryo is going to result in a pregnancy,” Ulrich said. “We’re trying to get as many eggs to create as many embryos to have as many chances as we can.”

Ulrich said that if 10 mature eggs are fertilized, about 80 percent generally fertilize normally. Of those, about half will grow out to the stage of embryo development that would allow for an attempt at pregnancy.

“We are the sort of caretakers of the eggs and embryos as they’re growing and moving towards the point where they could potentially create a pregnancy,” she said. “And if something happens during that process that would naturally occur as part of IVF, you could be held liable (under the Alabama definition).”

That means providers in Alabama could potentially be found liable in a wrongful death lawsuit for mistakenly destroying frozen embryos, which are afforded the same protection as babies under the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.

Fox 8 legal analyst Joe Raspanti said, “Every state is its own separate entity. So how (the Alabama ruling) directly impacts a state? Maybe not much. But there are going to be a lot more indirect implications to Louisiana and maybe countrywide by this ruling in Alabama.”

Ulrich said, “Alabama is saying it’s a child. It’s a person. Here, (embryos) are juridical people, but we still have the same restriction where we can’t discard embryos that are considered ‘viable’ by the law, although that definition is very broad.”

Ulrich said the options are storing embryos indefinitely, paying for storage every year, donating to another couple or moving them to a different state and discarding of them there, which is often what patients in Louisiana do.

Raspanti said there’s a lot to consider.

“If they implant one or two and the person gets pregnant, what do they do with those other embryos? Can the parents say to destroy them? I don’t know about that. Can they waive certain rights of that embryo? I don’t know about that. These are the dominos that may be falling down the line, based upon this type of ruling,” Raspanti said.

Ulrich said if something similar were to be handed down in Louisiana, it would make her practice far too expensive and recruitment within her profession here very challenging.

“The risk is then so high, IVF is not something that I think many physicians and embryologists potentially even try to practice, because it would be so risky,” Ulrich said.

She said that between 1-in-6 and 1-in-8 couples experience infertility, and that most recent data shows 1 percent of babies born in Louisiana were conceived by IVF, compared to 2 percent nationally.

Ulrich said patients could attempt IVF by fertilizing one egg at a time. However, she said each attempt would take a physical, emotional and financial toll on hopeful parents.

“Without coverage, paying out of pocket, if the cost goes up in response to a law like this or a ruling like this, it’s going to cut a lot of people out of the group that could potentially utilize this treatment and make a lot of couples or individuals end up where they can’t conceive at all and they can’t build their families,” Ulrich said.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans responded to Fox 8′s request for comment by issuing a statement that said, “All children, regardless of the circumstances of their conception and birth, are gifts from God who should be loved, cherished and cared for. Infertility is a challenging and sensitive issue for couples. The Catholic Church wants to walk with couples facing infertility and seeks to provide morally acceptable resources for couples seeking to become parents.

“The destruction of human embryos has always been of concern and one reason the Catholic Church opposes IVF. The Catholic Church believes that human life begins at conception and extends to natural death. Let us pray that our society may grow in respect for the dignity of all life and work to support and promote morally acceptable ways to help couples facing infertility achieve their dream of parenthood.”

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