Couple sues after Southern California fertility clinic 'throws away' their embryos

A Southern California couple says they are heartbroken and that their best hope of having biological children has been crushed after a preeminent fertility clinic in Los Angeles reportedly threw away their embryos.

Marissa Calhoun, who said she endured three agonizing egg retrieval procedures since 2021, and her partner, Stephen Castaneda, are now suing Reproductive Partners Medical Group and Dr. Andy Huang.  

Calhoun says that nearly a year ago, her eggs were fertilized and placed in an incubator and admits that she’s been devastated since learning they were no longer being stored.  

“The grief was immediate and overwhelming,” she explained.  

According to the couple’s attorney, Adam Wolf, the clinic admitted that an employee had not labeled Calhoun’s embryos before placing them in the incubator.  

“Then later took the unlabeled embryos out of the incubator and just threw them away,” Wold explained. “RMPG literally treated Marissa’s embryos like trash.”  

In an online news conference Tuesday to announce the reckless negligence lawsuit against Dr. Huang and Reproductive Partners Medical Group, Castaneda talked about how Calhoun told him of the loss of their embryos in a panicked phone call.  

“I never heard that much pain in her voice before,” Castaneda explained. “It was the pain that I could only associate with the death of a loved one. I hate the helplessness of the situation.”  

The couple and their attorney say they were denied documentation of what happened and added that no legal settlement can compensate them for what they have lost.  

“Marissa and I are going through the grieving process,” Castaneda added. “We are trying to come to grips with the fact that we may never have the family that we so badly wanted to have.”

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, has been filed in L.A. Superior Court.