Lost Fertility Clinic Embryos Weren’t Living Persons, Ohio Appellate Court Rules

May 6, 2019

(CNN) – Frozen embryos are not living persons, an appellate court in Ohio affirmed Thursday. The ruling is the latest development in a case brought by a couple who lost three embryos in a fertility clinic storage tank malfunction last year. Wendy and Rick Penniman of suburban Cleveland were among the more than 950 families affected by the tank failure in March 2018 at Cleveland’s University Hospitals Fertility Clinic. The malfunction caused the temperature to rise, destroying more than 4,000 eggs and embryos.