LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (KABC) — Several Southern California couples say the embryos they created to start their families were moved without their knowledge and their procedures were halted without warning.
“I feel like they were kidnapped. I don’t know where they are,” said Bernice Cervantes of Tehachapi.
Cervantes and her husband, Curtis Hanson, are among 26 patients suing fertility specialist Dr. Brian David Acacio. The lawsuit alleges Acacio transferred embryos from his Laguna Niguel office to his Bakersfield clinic without patients’ consent after he was evicted from the Laguna Niguel location for failing to pay rent for more than a year.
The Laguna Niguel office is now closed, while the Bakersfield location appears to remain open.
Cervantes said she and her husband carefully researched fertility doctors before choosing Acacio.
“I was so hopeful for this, and I did my due diligence,” she said. “I looked up the best doctors in the area, and Dr. Acacio’s name kept coming up. And so I thought, ‘You can’t go wrong with that.'”
According to the lawsuit, patients later learned Acacio’s medical license had been suspended by the Medical Board of California. The complaint alleges the suspension stemmed from accusations that he was abusing cocaine, impairing his ability to practice safely. It further claims he continued seeing patients after his license was suspended in December.
“Dr. Acacio’s license to practice medicine was suspended by the medical board because he was abusing illegal drugs. He never told any of his patients about that,” said attorney Robert H. Marcereau of the Fertility Law Group, which represents several of the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit also alleges Acacio is refusing to release some patients’ embryos unless they sign documents absolving him of responsibility.
Marina Reyes of Bakersfield said she underwent an invasive ultrasound on Jan. 2, shortly before she was scheduled to have her embryos, a boy and a girl, transferred.
That transfer was first postponed and later canceled, she said.
“It has taken a toll on us emotionally, physically and financially,” Reyes said.
The lawsuit seeks court intervention to compel the return of the embryos.
In a phone call to the Bakersfield clinic, a receptionist answered but did not provide comment. A request for a response regarding the lawsuit, whether Acacio is currently practicing and the location of embryos moved from the Laguna Niguel office was not returned.
Attorneys representing the patients say they believe there may be additional affected patients who are not yet aware their embryos were moved.
The clock is ticking on what may be some of these patients’ only opportunity to have a biological child.
For Christina Chandler, it’s been four years of hope she’s invested in trying to start her family.
“We’re gone through multiple retrievals, multiple transfers, and this man does not care about us. We’ve been through so much. We just need him to be accountable,” Chandler said through tears. “We want our embryos.”
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