A man and woman have dropped their lawsuit against a fertility clinic in which they alleged that the center had wrongfully disposed of their embryos, making it unlikely the pair will ever have children biologically related to them.
Marissa Calhoun and Stephen Castaneda brought the complaint against Reproductive Partners Medical Group Inc., alleging negligence, negligent hiring and supervision, conversion and bailment. On Tuesday, attorneys for the couple filed court papers with Judge Michael Small asking that the suit be dismissed “with prejudice,” meaning it cannot be refiled.
The court papers do not state if a settlement was reached or if the case is not being pursued for other reasons. In their previous court papers, defense attorneys denied the plaintiffs’ allegations and cited multiple defenses, including that the center was not required to inform the couple of the likelihood of success or risks of the procedure.
According to the suit, Calhoun’s initial treatment for in vitro fertilization began at RPMG in 2021, when she sought help in preserving her fertility by having her eggs frozen to further her goal of motherhood. She endured three difficult egg retrieval procedures in 2021 and 2022.
“Ms. Calhoun and Mr. Castaneda were elated that … they were fortunate to have enough eggs to have the family they wanted when they were ready to start,” the suit stated.
The couple contracted with RPMG to create embryos using Calhoun’s stored eggs and Castaneda’s sperm, the suit stated. In October 2023, RPMG informed the plaintiffs that all of the eggs were fertilized and would be placed in an incubator to grow into viable embryos, according to the suit.
But a few days later, an RPMG doctor told the pair that the company had “discarded and thus destroyed all of plaintiffs’ embryos,” the suit alleged.
RPMG eventually admitted that one of its employees had not labeled the couple’s embryos before placing them in an incubator, then removed the unmarked embryos from the incubator and intentionally threw them away, according to the complaint.
As a result, Castaneda and Calhoun may be unable to have children who are biologically related to them, according to the suit. The plaintiffs asked for a complete set of their records, but were instead sent a set of documents that only included information prior to the embryos being thrown out, the suit filed in September 2024 alleged.