A few weeks ago, I tried to discuss the creepy saga of Sofia Vergara and Nick Loeb’s embryo drama. This situation has been going on for a few years and there’s enough backstory to fill a book, so let me summarize: Nick Loeb wants “custody” of the embryos he created with Sofia when they were together. He wants to implant them in another woman, then raise those daughters on his own, because he’s “pro-life.” Sofia refuses to sign off on the scheme, and Nick is suing her. The latest issue involves a radical anti-choice organization in Louisiana filing suit against Sofia as well, claiming that these embryos have a constitutional “right to live.” That lawsuit even names the embryos, calling them Emma and Isabella. Basically, Emma and Isabella have “sued” Sofia. It’s all very dystopian and disgusting and I have so much sympathy for Sofia. Loeb comes across like such a manipulative douchebag. So, what’s the latest?
In the latest twist in the wild battle over Sofía Vergara and Nick Loeb’s frozen embryos, Page Six has learned that lawyers are gearing up to file a lawsuit demanding that the embryos be shipped from California to Louisiana. Earlier this month a stunning suit was filed against Vergara on behalf of the fertilized eggs — which are named in the papers as “Emma” and “Isabella” and listed as plaintiffs. The embryos’ “trustee,” James Charbonnet, was also listed as a plaintiff.
But insiders tell us that in the new year, attorneys will ask the ART Reproductive Center in Beverly Hills, Calif. — where the embryos have been cryogenically frozen since the former couple’s IVF treatment was completed in 2013 — to transfer them to a facility in Louisiana. The legal team is hopeful that ART will agree because it will consider the embryos a “legal hot potato” that it would like to be rid of. But if ART — or Vergara — declines permission for the embryos to be moved, Charbonnet intends to sue in federal court for the right to move the embryos.
Insiders say that the choice of Louisiana as their new home is significant because it’s the only state where embryos have legal rights of their own, rather than being considered the belongings, or “chattels” of their parents. The embryos would be sent by courier.
“Although Nick Loeb is not a party to the existing litigation or [this] subsequently contemplated litigation, he may be a beneficiary if the court adjudicates that the embryos are not chattels but entities with constitutional rights of survival,” Loeb’s attorney Mark J. Heller told us. “Such a ruling would defeat [Vergara’s] intention to keep her daughters’ embryos frozen in perpetuity and endorse the irrevocable right of parenthood granted to donors when they contribute to the creation of an embryo.”
Loeb already sued for custody of “Emma” and “Isabella” in 2014 but dropped the suit this month after a California judge demanded Loeb identify women with whom he’d had aborted pregnancies. Loeb said he would rather “go to jail” than give up the names. Vergara’s rep didn’t get back to us.
This is just INSANE. Sofia’s legal argument has been simple throughout: custody or possession of the embryos belongs to both herself and Nick. As in, they both have to sign off on anything involving the embryos. So, no, the Beverly Hills clinic isn’t going to shrug and send the embryos off to Louisiana, nor will Sofia sign off on that. And the legal implications for this are stunning across the board. Basically, what happens when couples undergo IVF treatments and freeze a number of embryos, some of which don’t get used? This could set a precedent for all of those unused embryos to “sue” their parents. It could be used to legally force women to carry children.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
He is evil.
Extremely evil. If he wants to have a child there are many ways to achieve that goal that don’t involve Sophia.
For him it is not about a child. It is about financially bleeding Vergara for child support. She is way more successful than him.
I am on Vergara’s side: both would have to sign if those embryos would have to be moved or implanted …
Luckily he’s advertising it all over the place. I have a feeling few women are gonna even consider going anywhere near him.
There’s always someone willing to be with a shit man.
Hannah, you took the words right out of my mouth. In fact “shit man” seems to be an attractive proposition to a surprisingly large segment of women (see also Trump, Donald).
ESMom, you nailed it. There’s a helluva lot of women (*cries*) who would rather have a shit man with a shit cabinet and shit for brains than a woman with emails
Yep. Ladies, please stay away from this one.
Trump? “Shit man but hit money” must have been Melania’s thoughts.
I went on a date w/a man and my 10 yr old asked me who he voted for in the last election. Let me preface by saying i’m not a fan of allowing my son to use swear words. When I told my son my date voted for Gary Johnson, my son said, “No. Please. That’s just shit stupid”. I didn’t correct him. #BoycottShitStupidMen
yup.
Dude, SHE DUMPED YOU. get over it already.
Why is it when a woman wants frozen embryios its ok but when a man wants the same he is evil?
@ Paula He is evil because he is trying to force a situation onto a woman who does not want it to happen. That is evil. They entered into an agreement where they had to both agree on what happened to the fertilized eggs or nothing would happen. He is now trying to overturn something he originally agreed to under suspicious circumstances.
There is nothing stopping him from getting eggs from a donor, fertilizing those eggs, getting another woman to carry the eggs to term, and then raising the child (children) on his own. There are many families who are already doing this, why has he not even considered diverting his efforts to doing that instead of going after Sofia?
You’re leaving out A LOT of details with this question. Don’t be obtuse. Read the story. You know why he’s wrong. Would you really let someone take an embryo that used your egg-meaning it is YOUR biological child-and just implant it in some stranger even though you both agreed that would NEVER be allowed?
@Paula
You’re referring to “sperm bandits”, aren’t you? The idea that a woman can drop her birth control when it was agreed ahead of time by both partners that she wouldn’t- just to get the baby and/or child support check she wanted.
NOBODY on this thread agrees with that. It is a manoeuvre that is grossly underhanded and abusive.
I get that you don’t want hypocrisy on this issue and I am genuinely hopeful that you will never find it in this thread. Abuse is abuse.
(head hits desk). I can’t edit my original comment (which mentioned nothing of frozen embryos before I hit the submit button). I wanted to say that likewise a person’s gender is irrelevant when it comes to deciding to use frozen embryos that the other partner has not signed off on.
Am off to have wayyyyy more coffee. Gah, this day….
He is basically wants to take all choice away from her, give it to himself and then sue her in the process. Over HER OWN EGGS. That is actually abusive in my opinion and evil.
I agree Paula, but this site is very pro Sofia. Who I see as a manipulative woman.
He’s using these embryos to try to control and get back at the woman who dumped him and he’s willing to get involved with organizations that attack women’s reproductive rights in order to do it. This isn’t just about him wanting kids- he’s basically being an entitled vindictive prick after a break up. And I agree with Tulip- if a woman behaved in the way she described over some guy dumping her, I wouldn’t be defending that kind of abusive, entitled, manipulative behavior either.
Nick also forced a former non famous partner to have an abortion. Sofias babies will be money in the years to come. And a weapon over her forever. So yeah, Mr Pro Life has standards for any potential babies.
Paula and Barbara, you are being deliberately obtuse, at best.
Nick Loeb wanted to force Sofia Vergara to agree to allow ANOTHER WOMAN ENTIRELY to carry those frozen cells to term. That is ridiculous. She originally had the IVF done for her and Nick; if she chooses not to have children with a man she broke up with (because he is an abusive douchebag), that is HER RIGHT. He should NEVER be able to FORCE her to allow another person to carry her eggs, conceived or not. Period. What the h*** is wrong with you people???
Evil is forcing life in this very odd post break up situation. Both parties should agree-or it’s just plain psycho.
Understatement. He’s truly an evil person
This is The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. If you haven’t read the book, read it, or see the film version which is so scary dystopian I saw it in 1990 and it still gives me chills. (Someone is making a tv series from it starring Elizabeth Moss who is amazing but I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle watching it while simultaneously living it with our new government regime. Like, everything she wrote is coming to pass. Octavia Butler foretold it in Parable of the Talents.
We are living in this, and Sofia is sadly on of our first examples of these big cases of the law versus rabid pro-lifers who want to control every bit of a woman’s life and body. In Texas that law just got passed that you have to bury the miscarriage (and abortion?) which is so horrible and just imagine, now that it’s law, who will be disproportionately affected by this leading to greater state-sanctioned incarceration. Economics will play a big part. We have to be so careful now and take good care of ourselves and each other to survive the next four years.
I’m so sad for her. All her Cancerian heart wants (other than getting paid to be adored lol!) is home and family. She finally has a beautiful man who loves and appreciates her, her son is happy and doing well, and this mf ghost of Xmas past is tormenting her. And because he is rich, he will find a way–this first step with bringing the Louisiana law to the national forefront through publicity. He may have lost that particular battle, but he has put this on the national forefront at a moment when the newly-installed government is stepping into power with one of the most virulently, openly anti-woman (and Black and POC and pretty much everyone) groups we have seen in a long time. My guess is that he’s gonna play this one up hard. Hopefully no one from that administration uses it as part of a platform.
Why is it with the new administration coming in my tingly sensations say that this will happen? Interesting that this person is waiting until January to file the suit and it will be more interesting if he waits until the new administration is sworn in.
Nothing makes sense anymore. We are in Bizarro-land.
It’s disgusting and scary at the same time
Are we getting to the point where women would have travel outside the country to get an abortion or women’s health treatment? I know it’s not like that now everywhere but it sure feels like it’s coming soon
This douchbag excuse of a man is so disgusting crying prolife and naming embryos but shut down really quick when the judge ordered the names of other women. I hope it gets worse for him because he seems to be hung up on Sofia
@SWAK
I got the same feeling too. In fact, I would encourage all people who have any frozen blatocysts (because they’re not just ovum, nor are they embryos yet) they don’t want to have them destroyed before Trump takes office. People could definitely find themselves raising six kids whether they want to or not.
Some people choose to donate them, so that’s also an option.
Yep. “Constitutional rights of survival” is an insidious phrase. I will be getting an IUD before Jan 20.
My thoughts exactly. I think this will happen.
I had this exact same feeling- control freak men are just hanging on this whack job administration. It’s strange how the trump thing team wants less of everything for poor working class people- less wages, less subsidized housing, less public lands. less wildlife, less publicly funded health and education, less right to protest, yet they want-more- control of reproductive rights. It’s inane.
Yes! I just wrote that long-ass note above before seeing your post! lol! Agreed, very interesting strategic move. I think we should follow the money. I don’t know much about dude except that his family is loaded. Wonder what lobbies they fund or company connections to who in government…
What a sick freak this dude is. Abusive. Whats the end game? To force implantation into a surrogate or to just emotionally abuse her?
I’d guess he wants to have the kids so he can shake her down for child support for 18+ years.
He’s rich on his own and has said that he would even agree to terminate her parental rights. But he’s an abusive prick, so odds are that he’d be at every industry event with those “girls” just to unnerve her.
NastyWoman, GAH! What a pathetic jerk. I hope to God no judge allows him to act on his disgusting and creepy plan.
Nah, I think it’s because that’s the only chance for him to be a part of her live (in an abusive, controling way) for 18+ years. Even if she doesn’t have any parental rights, I’d be on her mind. He’d make sure it’s on her mind.
I’d also be part of the public discussion and her image and I wonder whether that’s part of his motivation as well. Damaging her career/image by forcing her into a situation where she either has to deal with him or some people will paint as a heartless woman who doesn’t love “her” babies. Who knows how crazy he is.
Why not both?
I find it extra creepy that the embryos are girls. THis man can NOT be trusted to raise any children, let alone daughters. He clearly doesn’t think of girls or women as people, only pawns.
Ugggghhh you are all right. Its creepy the embryos are girls. And she’d never agree to terminate parental rights should they be forced into this world. She’s not a cruel woman. Its sick sick sick. This must hurt her a great deal so I hope it goes away soon.
I am having involuntary reactions to this story-it just goes right along with everything else that’s happening right now. What’s up next? Husbands suing their wives for taking birth control pills that prevent implantation? What kind of f-cked up world are we living in? This guy is obviously a controlling, narcissistic douche who is pissed Sophia left him and married someone more famous, and while that’s disgusting, that’s just him. However, that a freaking attorney entertained this shit…
I’m seriously disturbed. Poor Sophia.
Agreed. It’s the Handmaid’s Tale…
I feel like the world I know is unraveling around me.
Because it is. 🙁
I was watching The Sound of Music the other day and I see it in a whole new light, now. When Georg says that the world he knows is disappearing, something kicked me in the chest.
Two terrorist attacks a day. People being shot in their homes. The fourth Reich coming to power. Women’s reproductive rights under actual assault, and lawmakers are literally saying it’s because of the incoming administration. I’m scared. It’s really hard to stay positive, but on a moment-to-moment basis, I feel like I have to.
I just feel powerless. Hate the Democratic party for doing nothing.
I saw “The Sound of Music” in a theater the day after Thanksgiving. This scene happened:
Max:
What’s going to happen’s going to happen. Just make sure it doesn’t happen to you.
Captain von Trapp:
Max. Don’t you *ever* say that again.
Max:
You know I have no political convictions. Can I help it if other people do?
Captain von Trapp:
Oh yes, you can help it. You must help it.
And the theater crowd went WILD with applause. It was so cathartic to be in a crowd that said a big loud NO to apathy.
When all else fails, I just try to meditate on this verse by Rudolf Steiner and hope and hope and hope for a miracle
“We must eradicate from the soul all fear and terror of what comes out of the future.
We must acquire serenity in all our feelings and sensations about the future.
We must look forward with absolute equanimity to everything that may come and
We must think only that whatever comes to us, is by the world-direction,
full of wisdom.
It is part of what we must learn in this age, namely, to live out of pure trust without any security in existence; trusting only in the ever-present help from the spiritual world.
Truly nothing else will do if our courage is not to fail.
Let us discipline our Will and let us seek the awakening from within ourselves, every morning and every evening”
Its just our turn, history always repeats itself. In each generation the world gets shook up. How we respond is how this all turns out. Its not the end, its just our turn. Humans in mass have never been “good” and for some ding dong reason we have falsely believed it. I’ve worked in war zones and have seen the great evil people are capable of committing, so I have never tried to not see it because its always at the doorstep of every society. Waiting for its moment to come forth So we can’t give up, confront evil for what it is and never except defeat. Its changing but we have to be adaptable as well. All the tears in the world doesn’t help us, we have to stand up to it.
As I read in a quote from Mark Ruffalo the other day, despair is what they want you to feel so that you don’t take action. We must not give into that, for apathy in the face of such evil only enables it.
Honestly, it is up to us to become the active part of the democratic party.
I’m linking to an important strategy guide, that I HIGHLY recommend! It was put together by congressional staffers who watched the Tea Party obstruct Obama. They put together action items that really gave me hope and a place to start.
It started on Google Docs, but got spread so many times it crashed or something, so they created a website where you can download the guide. Seriously, seriously worth a read.
https://www.indivisibleguide.com/
If you don’t want to download, here is another version of “Indivisible: A Practical Guide fro Resisting the Trump Agenda”.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DzOz3Y6D8g_MNXHNMJYAz1b41_cn535aU5UsN7Lj8X8/preview
As a person that grew up in the rural South, this was the world I always knew until I moved out. Sometimes I wish ole Abe had let the south go to suffer under its own demise.
Got in a huge fight with my fiancee last night because I “joked” that maybe we don’t need to save for our wedding since the world will be over by May 2018…. he told me I was crazy, insane, a lunatic. That a president has never affected us before so why should it now…
I told him he’s a straight white man so of course he has the privilege to feel that way and then it just digressed from there.
I’m not crazy. I’m not insane. I’m not a lunatic. I’m a rational forward thinking compassionate human being. And I’m really really really scared.
I hear you Erica. My straight white husband of 10 years & I have been going at it since Election Day. He says exactly what your fiancé is saying to you. I’m planning on going to D.C. to protest in January w/ a few other women. He thinks I’m “overreacting.”
Absolutely disgusting. I feel for Sophia.
He is pro-life but agreed to abort other pregnancies where he was the father? Huh? I don’t get this. Seems to be all about controlling his ex.
which is exactly why that judge asked him to provide names. shows what a f-ing hypocrite he is.
I’d say he’s pissed she left him
Exactly. No sympathy for this creep. This is about control. And he’s using an absolutely disgusting means to do it.
I’ve heard plenty of stories from people who escort women to abortion clinics that they’ve ended up protecting some of the same women who are out there protesting them and calling them babykillers on any other day. It’s always different when it’s one’s own abortion involved, I guess.
Hypocrites are alive and well in the Republican Party. A good friend – who quotes Limbaugh all the time – had an abortion. She was happily married, financially stable, and pro-life. She chose to terminate because she was done having kids. I supported and felt for her, but she continued to espouse pro-life talking points after her abortion. One of those who refuses to see the contradiction.
Here comes “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Some of these jackwagons aren’t going to be happy until that book has been codified into law.
This this this!
This this this!
This is so crazy? We should save unused sperm, that’s potential babies you’re destroying! Just kidding…
now you’ve done it. I have Monty Python running through my head…
Seriously if I were Sophia,
I’d sue this a-hole for masturbation leading to the loss of potential babies. I want crazies on the other end pushing to ban male masturbation as immoral and illegal. Can we start a change.org petition on this?
How about banning Viagra? Cause clearly, if God wanted a guy to have sex, he would make his Peter work without man’s intervention! 🙂
This argument was covered by Elle Woods, as I recall. Hopefully, his sham lawsuit will go nowhere.
What about blow jobs, that’s cannibalism lol.
You think you are kidding. This is the reason why the Vatican opposes the pull out method as a means of contraception. Deliberately ejaculating outside of the vagina is to defeat “Gods plan for life”. The only acceptable planning method is abstinence during days of fertility. Of course most Catholics do whatever they want but this is, I kid not, the official position. Or it was before I escaped religion about a decade ago.
Isn’t that the argument from Legally Blonde? That he was then the murderer of potential children every time he masturbated?
Gosh, what a raging son of a b*tch.
Sofia should
1. Agree to implantation of both embryos
2. Proceed with implantation
3. STAY IN CALIFORNIA
4. Take Plan B
5. Problem solved
6. Nightmare over
THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS
OMG
I was thinking somebody should just accidentally unplug the fridge they are in but your plan is so much more delicious.
I had a similar idea. I was thinking it would be great if someone that worked at the facility did something to make them no longer viable. No one would know and if they ever did get implanted, that is when they would find out. It would of course be completely unethical..but somehow still “right”.
It is not likely the embryos are “stored in a fridge.” Cryostorage tanks are usually in liquid nitrogen tanks with many other people’s specimens (and they are not dependent on electrical power, just constant replenishment of the nitrogen). I think Loeb is a gross excuse for a human, but would not want to set any kind of precedent of sabotaging anyone’s embryos to make a political point.
He’s a disgusting pig. And double disgusting for hiding behind the lie that he’s pro-life when ultimately, he’s just wanting to harass her.
It pisses me off that anyone pro-life would get involved with this or support this jerk, when he’s just exploiting their cause to torture someone else. That’s not what the pro-life movement should stand for. Victimizing people doesn’t gain any supporters for your cause.
The pro-life stance is about controlling women’s sexuality and shaming them with “evidence of their sin” when they don’t follow religious orthodoxy of staying virgins until marriage or having children ONLY when married. Everything else is usual right-wing propaganda and good PR.
This case is the EXACT example of typical pro-lifers. They are anti-choice and pro-birth with no concern for children’s wellbeings after the come into this world. Do you honestly think there would be “pro-lifers” if men were the ones who get pregnant?
I don’t see all pro lifers that way. Although, certainly there are many that are. The fact that anyone is backing this a hole proves that.
I think abortion is awful… But it is not because I think a woman should be punished for having sex or have to face consequences etc. I don’t think of a baby as being a consequence. I think it’s a gift.
But I know that life isn’t so black and white. And I know many women, including myself, have had to make hard choices for self preservation. That’s life. And I don’t envy any woman who has felt the need to make that choice. I don’t think it’s one that most women take lightly. I definitely don’t like the idea of villainizing a woman that had to make such a choice. Being pro life should mean you are supportive of the women too. Ultimately, it should be about looking out for the women and children. That only makes sense.
Too bad there is always someone disgusting, like this pig and other freaks like him… That exploit the genuine beliefs of some people for their own controlling agenda. This guy is obviously not concerned for his “children”. He is concerned about himself.
“Do you honestly think there would be “pro-lifers” if men were the ones who get pregnant?”
my very-catholic-but-socially-liberal mother used to say “if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.”
@Lalu, I so agree. I know it may not be popular on this site, but I personally don’t agree with most abortions out of convenience. I do, however view it with a lot of grey. I can’t say what’s right in other people’s circumstances. That said, these are not babies!! I love my children and if I got pregnant again I’d be fine, but I take a pill every day that prevents implantation. That’s not killing babies! These are fertilized eggs this man is naming and dealing with. Dude, your relationship didn’t work out. Find another woman to knock up.
@LaLu
Many people also have “honest” disagreements about homosexuality especially when it comes to reproductive right. I respect a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body and her organs, I do NOT however respect the American “pro-life” movement. It has always involved selective morality over women’s sexuality and ownership over their own bodies. Like stated above, male masturbation is also supposed to be the loss of potential life but we don’t have a political movement against it!
It doesn’t matter if you disagree with someone’s decision to not continue with a pregnancy, the fetus IS part of her body and requires her body’s organs to progress. It’S like telling a woman she doesn’t have the right to donate one of her kidneys. That organ survives because of her. And a kidney can actually survival when removed out of her body as opposed to an embryo who is a POTENTIAL life until birthed.
This pro-life movement has a lot of funding devoted solely to changing people’s rational view of science and real reproductive biology and changing “cells into babies” with fake pictures. This brain washing of our society has been going on for over 50 years. The Republican Party came on board to use these people to gain power because they are true believers. There is a reason religious zealots are against science and knowledge. The truth interferes with their propaganda.
P.S. Not trying to be offensive just sick of us tip toeing around reality.
TC… I don’t think you are being offensive at all. I think you passionately believe what you are saying. I can totally relate to that.
I don’t agree with everything you have said here but I respect your opinion. You make some valid points.
I believe in science and majored in biology in college. I don’t just form my thoughts based on something a preacher or politician told me. I don’t believe that life just begins when the baby exits the birth canal.
But, like I said above… I understand that women make these choices for all kinds of reasons. And sometimes they feel they have no choices. I have compassion for the women just like I do for the unborn. I hate that abortion is a thing… But it has been around since the beginning of time… It didn’t start recently.
I will add that I detest anyone that uses this subject for their own gain… Be that politicians, controlling men like this pig, or just people in general that want to judge and be self righteous. They are much uglier than what they claim to fight against.
And I hope I don’t sound judgemental to anyone reading that has been through these circumstances… Because that is not where I was intending to go with this. I am not some religious nut (although I am Christian). I got pregnant out of wedlock in college (Pre-med biology major!). I know it happens. I was fortunate to have an incredible partner and it still turned my world upside down for a long time.
Man, do I ever feel bad for her. Nick is like the definition of scum bag. Hope she wins.
Unbelievable. Welcome to Gilead.
Ugh, I hope that the judge throws this case out. This organization is just trying to use this case to set a precedent and that is horrific! My sister after 10 years of trying to get prenant did 3 rounds of IVF and finally became pregnant with triplets. She had a very hard pregnancy and went into birth almost 3 months early and one baby boy died and two little girls were born with heart issues and brain swelling. My sister went into a coma and had almost fatal clotting. I say all this to say that she still has frozen embryos from when she was trying to become pregnant but of course can and would not do it again since it could kill her and the baby. So for this to be even entertained by judge is especially disgusting to me!
My feelings are that couples who involve themselves in this process should have to sign an agreement which states what will happen to the embryos should the relationship end. If they cannot come to a joint decision then they should not be able to begin the process. We cannot have issues like this threatening the ability of others to create a family through IVF. The fact is, there is 50% ownership here and she had to have known that he is insanely pro-life. He is a politician for Christ’s sake. These are the things that we need to think about prior to doing this. It’s like procreating with a deadbeat and then being surprised when he’s not around. Well, you got the American Psycho opposite.
“While a contract between Vergara and Loeb had been signed prior to the creation of the embryos stipulating that neither party could use the embryos without the consent of the other, the lawsuit tries to void this agreement.”
So they DID enter this with a written contract. He’s just trying to get the contract voided because he’s such a creep.
That’s not the type of agreement I’m talking about. That’s the issue now. The agreement that a couple signs should explicitly say that the embryos must be destroyed upon the dissolvement of the relationship or one or both can proceed with bringing the embryo to term.
But you say there is 50% ownership, so each person should have a say in whether the other can implant them or not. Why should they specifically be destroyed upon dissolution of the relationship because if he is insanely pro-life, then he would not agree to that. I agree with others – this is about control.
Allie B., so now you get to decide what kind of contract other people have to sign. You are just as bad as others who think that their way and what they think is best and is what everyone should do. We should have the right to decide what is best for our bodies and lives.
@Allie B
Yes, a definitive destruction clause would be great, if the legal question here was regarding destruction. Its not. The question here regards implantation and on that, the contract is very clear. Both MUST consent. She has declined to consent so he is dragging her around the country shopping for a conservative court that will override her consent.
I don’t think this creep is insanely prolife. He’s just saying that now. This should piss off the pro lifers. They shouldn’t get involved in this. He is using something that some people sincerely believe and using it to torture someone.
THIS. It’s unreal. Poor Sophia.
you can’t know if your relationship is going to end when you being fertility treatments. people who suffer from infertility and can afford IVF have a right to do whatever they want with their bodies and the harvested genetic material. they did have an agreement in place that holds legal precedent – which is why all the courts have ruled against him so far.
If he is so pro-life, then why did he allow other women to have abortions when they were pregnant with his child? From this article: “Loeb already sued for custody of “Emma” and “Isabella” in 2014 but dropped the suit this month after a California judge demanded Loeb identify women with whom he’d had aborted pregnancies”.
There is an agreement that states both him and Sofia must agree to what should happen to the frozen embryos. From Forbes: “At the start of the IVF process, Sofia Vergara and Nick Loeb both signed a form directive from the medical facility. This form included an agreement with different options for what would happen to the embryos if not implanted. They filled out the form and both signed it, indicating that if either of them died, the embryos would be thawed, which would destroy them. The embryos would only be implanted or otherwise used if both Vergara and Loeb agreed to it. If not, the embryos would remain frozen indefinitely.”
In my opinion, this should not effect others having IVF unless the courts overturn this agreement and allow Loeb to have the embryos implanted.
Are you serious, did you even read the article? She did have a contract with him which he is trying to get voided hence the whole lawsuit thing. Also how was she supposed to know he was pro-life if he never expressed this to her and multiple women he dated have had an abortion. He is just using the pro-life angle as a way to continue to emotionally abuse her and you are helping by placing all the blame on her. She should have this and that, is complete victim blaming.
I don’t get to decide anything. If things like this are to be avoided then each party should have to agree to destroying the embryos OR being okay with one or both proceeding with the process after seperation. This has to be decided by both, in agreement, prior to beginning IVF. If you want people to continue to have their embryos held hostage then by all means, disagree with me.
@chin, I see the agreement. It still seems broad.
The agreement is enough under the law. I don’t understand why you think it needs to be different. The agreement covers just the scenario unfolding right now. It states no party can use the embryo without the consent of the other. He does not have her consent. Case closed. No other contract stipulations needed. He agreed to this. It matters not that he changed his mind.
Ok, I am totally not trying to attack you or anything but Sophia has been famous for more than 20 years in the Spanish market. She has talked about abuse in prior relationships and in many Spanish media reports he was reported as being very emotionally, mentally, verbally, and possibly physically abusive to her. This is just a way for him to continue to abuse her. It is not because he is pro-life or wants to have these children. He wants to be able to continue to control her for years to come. While I see your point of maybe needing a contract that is not so broad, the fact is they both agreed to this contract and he is now suing to get it voided to harm her. He is using the court system to abuse her on national level and I truly feel for her and hope this disgusting man is stopped. He has also been known to hook up with escorts and prositutes down here in Florida and go on huge coke binges where he has been accused of harming these girls, but due to his money he is able to get out of it. He is a pig and deserves to be in jail.
Marigold, exactly, I am not defending HIM. The issue is that he does not have her consent, but she also does not have his consent to destroy the embryos which would be the right thing to do. If this had been determined beforehand then we could avoid this legal tug of war where 50% ownership creates a never ending struggle. The court should not be deciding this. It should have been decided by an explicit agreement prior to doing this.
The issue with that is that I doubt that agreement would stop him from using the current angle. He’s trying to argue using the whole ‘right to life’ kind of bs. He’s trying to get these cells to be considered to be persons, and arguing that they have a right to life. I fully believe he’d try to override even a clear cut destruction agreement based on that kind of platform.
@AllieB, this is not about the destruction of the embryos. In all that I have read on this case, Sofia does not want the embryos destroyed. Exactly, the courts should not be deciding this because THERE is an agreement in place. He is the one abusing the system and going to court. She is not. Just because it isn’t an agreement for destruction once the relationship ends doesn’t mean it’s invalid. Also, how many times have people broken up and gotten back together – even years later.
How is he pro life? Before his relatioship with Sofia, he had other gfs who had abortions. So one can reasonably expect from that alone that he was not.
@ Allie B-he impregnated other women who later had abortions, sooo…his pro-life position is merely a matter of convenience and opportunity.
If this were a movie plot, I would be rolling my eyes and asking for my money back! To think, that this is a true story, is very, very creepy, and scary as hell…
I doubt that the center or Sofia will agree with shipping the embryos to Louisiana. Nick Loeb is off his rockers. He is really confident in his pursuit, isn’t it? Ugh
If the supreme court continues to get more conservative…I can see a case like his winning, sadly. But all this just seems like a ploy to stay in her life because she dared to move on.
i’m so glad our federal courts are being asked to concentrate on hard hitting rulings like a tv star and her z-list nobody ex’s frozen embryos. this country is disgusting right now.
So, let’s see…this supposed third party lawsuit is apparently not being encouraged by Nick Loeb, but he would benefit from it (crazy side eye). Now, if still the people suing to get the embryos are not connected to the father, and “donate” the embryos to couples who want children… what is the chance that it is an anonymous donation?
When I went trough IVF, we signed a paper that if there were any left over embryos that for whichever reason we did not “use”, they could be anonymously given to be implanted to couples that had fertility problems beyond implantation/carrying. We actually ended up giving up on IVF and left one embryo at the hospital/ center. I sometimes wonder what happened to it, if it ended up helping a different couple.
Now, Sofia, my spider sense tells me that ****if**** the embryos are taken out and given out, it would become a terrible precedent for reproductive rights, and most probably the *eventual* babies would be raised to sue their mother and even their father for whatever reason. This is what I foresee.
How Sofia is being singled out for this is awful. I bet there have been many other cases where something similar has happened.
I’m just hoping ART “accidentally” let’s the embryos unfreeze and become unusable
If this idiotic lawsuit prevailed, I would hope someone would do that exactly. Oops, just these two were allowed to thaw on the counter for a few days. Well, we refroze them! Good luck!
As awful as this sounds, I hope they do ship them to Louisiana and “forget” to put coolant in the container. Those poor girls would grow up with a lunatic father who only views them as pawns to hurt their mother.
Not to pick on you personally, but “those poor girls” are not actually girls. A viable pregnancy is needed here before that can become a reality.
I feel like I’m reading the script for a Twilight Zone episode. This guy is mentally ill.
O M G ! !
This is a losing case for Nick because even if he argues successfully that the embryos can’t be destroyed without his permission, he can’t do anything with them without Sofia’s. Move on with your life Mr. Loeb.
I know right? He can have kids with many other women. He’s just pissed she moved on and is happy.
I’m mostly just baffled that someone or something completely unconnected to these embryos and in a totally different state has any legal grounds to petition the court?? This is Sophia Vergara’s genetic material, so they have no legal right to any of it for any reason. Crazy
I am really baffled by the US?! Or is this only middle America? They choose to concentrate efforts on this!? If they’re so concerned about protecting lives, why not look into gun regulations for oh you know, people who are already formed human beings? Why not mandatory paid pregnancy leave? Why not care about the cost and quality of education?
BAH.
Sofia, I support you and wish you strength to stand your ground against this….completely formed but inhuman jerkface.
” If they’re so concerned about protecting lives, why not look into gun regulations for oh you know, people who are already formed human beings? Why not mandatory paid pregnancy leave? Why not care about the cost and quality of education?”
because they’re pro-BIRTH, not pro-LIFE. it’s just another way for people to control women and their reproductive rights, and make sex shameful. once that baby is out, they don’t give a shit what happens to him/her.
That’s my confusion too. How can a case like this, in a different state and not a criminal case, ever proceed??? I’d love some lawyers to weigh in here as this feels awfully invasive and scary.
And he didn’t seem so anti-choice when HE didn’t want the child with previous women. Hypocrite.
I hope the facility has a oopsie! Like “oh, no! The container the embryos were in malfunctioned – our bad!”. Seriously. She doesn’t want to have his children, he only wants them because he’s a manipulative, psycho, abusive prick. He’s rich. Get a doner egg, a surrogate and move on if you’re soooo desperate to be a parent, because this has nothing to do with being pro-life and everything to do with being butthurt Sofia dumped your crazy ass for someone hotter and better.
IVF has a very low success rate, those couple of fertilized eggs barely have a fighting chance. If he’s so pro-life he should donate the money he spends on lawyers to UNICEF to help all the suffering children in Syria and Yemen and other places
This
Glad to see pro-life continues its long history of supporting the position of abusive partners in its quest for “Justice.”
And this!
Wow. Just….wow. This psychopath is taking “control” to a whole other level. I mean…wow.
They are hers, right? Unless they have a legal contract (which they probably do) that stuff came from her body. Imagine semen being used from a one night stand to create a baby. I know it’s not even a remotely similar situation but the litigation of child-producing is a very dangerous thought. Pray for Maury during these times to help us all. maury xmas
No it came from BOTH their bodies. They are embryos, not just eggs. It is HIS sperm and HER eggs together…which makes an embryo.
Why be all hoity toity and use CAPS WHEN YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT MAKES AN EMBRYO?
I have a feeling he is going to find a way to harass her for years to come. He’s obsessed.
Yep. He’s a psycho. He should be embarrassed.
Recommended reading, y’all:
https://www.amazon.com/Handmaids-Tale-Margaret-Atwood/dp/038549081X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482258307&sr=1-1&keywords=the+handmaid%27s+tale
i’m a high school librarian (in canada, where margaret atwood is pretty much a god), and always recommend this book. it’s so prescient, and getting young people to see the parallels and having it make them angry and scared enough to act – after reading this and other dystopian fiction – is so important. critical thinking ftw!
Yes! Saw the film 26 years ago as first-year in college and it scared the shit out of me. Here we are living it. I knew there was a reason it affected me so much, and with every passing day, I keep remembering scenes and the feeling… Angels help us all
It’s like a SCI-FI Fatal Attraction crossover novel. Poor Sofia!
It would have been better had she just frozen her eggs and not used any sperm. Take this as a lesson ladies…you might love him now but who knows down the road.
I have a friend who was in a very abusive marriage for 10 years. I’m talking drinking, poker, beatings every day, insulting, inutile jealousy . In the end he even putted a gun to her head and beat her so badly she couldn’t see for three days. Anyway in the middle of all this when he sensed that she was going to leave him for good (even telling her :I know you are going away from me soon) he asked her repeatedly to have another child. I mean he wouldn’t stop even he wasn’t a father to his son at all. She almost agreed just to make him stop and also to maybe see a change for good in him !!!!!!!!. In the end she run away and his words were: You bitch if only I could leave you with two children to see you suffer.
So this story here is about control, humiliation, revenge make no mistake. As someone said up thread I would smile, agree to have the embryos implanted in me and then take the day after pill and exercise my right to CHOOSE and look at him with a straight face and say WHAT NOW? Oh well I guess Sofia is a better person than me and also she has to protect her image.
Yes, this sick S.O.B. just wants to continue to abuse her and control her. To anyone who remotely thinks that he is a pro-lifer or that this is why you should watch who you are having children with or she should have had a better contract, all of you wake up! This pig abused her in thier relationship and when she finally was able to leave for good after all the previous tries he does this to continue to hurt her. She is a victim, this isn’t about what you believe should or could have been done. Stop victim shaming and if you have never been in a abusive relationship(good for you) read up on it and maybe you can have compassion for what she is going thru.
Exactly. There are times when I would be inclined to give a man the benefit of the doubt in a situation like this… But this is just about control and abuse. No one should be siding with this tool.
Shame on anyone for supporting him to further an agenda at her expense.
That’s a good idea, egla. Sofia should implant the embryos in herself, take the morning after pill and be done with it all. They would have a hard time proving that she just naturally miscarry.
Not all clinics will do this, but some will do an off-cycle transfer. Basically, they do an FET at a time when there is no way the embryo can implant in the uturus, assuring that there won’t be a pregnancy because the women’s body is a hostile environment. The family would still incur the FET expense (though not all the meds and hormones needed to get her body ready for pregnancy. Generally this is done for those couples who have a hard time emotionally thawing and discarding the embryos they have in storage. No morning after pill is even needed in this case.
As a lawyer (and really, the greatest thing about a law degree is to be able to start sentences like that): No, even if the embryos won the case, it would not set a precedent which could be used to force women to carry children. What it would do is set a precedent for the illegality of IVF, since there are often “unused” embryos in IVF. If a court decided that these embryos had a right to be born, a right to life, it would effectively declare IVF illegal. As to Nick Loeb’s lawsuit, it is highly unlikely that a court would move away from the principle of shared responsibility for frozen embryos. UK courts and in the end the European Court of Human Rights decided a similar case 10 years ago. It’s not an US court, but human rights are supposed to be somewhat universal, so it might still be interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evans_v_United_Kingdom
This is ridiculous. This guy is crazy. I hope Vergara gets “custody” and destroys them. Ugh. .
I feel bad Sofia is going through all of this. I also feel bad for the two women that had abortions that are now being dragged into this. They deserve privacy and I hate that their medical history is being brought up in a case that doesn’t involve them. I understand that it shows that Loeb isn’t as prolife as he claims but still…
this is disgusting and awful on so many levels, and i would like to commend you for calling a spade a spade by employing the term “anti-choice”.
I cannot believe he’s gotten this far with the lawsuit – he is beyond deranged.
My God, this sounds like a prequel to Atwood’s Handmaid’ Tale, if Jackie Collins wrote it, WTF.
I just hope some Dr/tech did something to destroy those embryos, prevent them from be viable. That Loeb is a complete nutjob, and should not be allowed around children, or women.
I know I’m a day late here, but damn this guy is INSANE. He named them?! He is next level creepy. Get over yourself. She’s happy, and married. You don’t get to do this to her. I honestly feel awful for her the way this shit is playing out for the world to see.
There’s no way the ART lab would ship those embryos without the express permission of both client depositors. Nick signed a cryostorage agreement with Sofia – they are co-owners of the embryos and he can’t do anything without her either signing over all rights to her. It’s going to have to go a lot higher up in the courts before any shipping is done. Because of the potential implications of this lawsuit, I can’t see any clinic or storage facility shipping anything until the appeal process is completely exhausted. I work for a company that does long-term storage of embryos, semen and oocytes. There are FDA regulations, AATB regulations, State of California regulations. We have had clients with contentious divorces (not quite at this level) and we would do nothing without permission from both account owners–too much is at stake. Only complete and utter ignorance of the science of development would let anyone think these cells are babies. The UK doesn’ t allow for cryostorage of these specimens for longer than 10 years, Kuwait allows only Fresh transfers, no frozen embryo transfers, but somehow a 5 day old multi cell collection of genetic material is a child?