Spar Over Sofia Vergara And Nick Loeb’s Frozen Embryos Stirs Existential Debate
The fate of two frozen embryos has become a public battle between actress Sofia Vergara and her ex-boyfriend Nick Loeb — stirring up the existential debate of when exactly life begins.
Florida businessman Nick Loeb filed a lawsuit last week against former fiancé Vergara, accusing the Modern Family star of trying to thaw and destroy two female frozen embryos that the couple had produced while they were together.
Vergara’s lawyer says Loeb’s claims are “uncredible and hold no merit,” yet the millionaire businessman stands by the lawsuit, telling Us Magazine he’s always dreamed of being a father and stands committed to bringing the two embryos to life and parenting on his own.
“I have always strongly believed that life begins at fertilization and that every embryo is a life on the journey towards birth. I created these two female embryos with the purpose of taking them to term and not destruction, because I have always dreamed of being a father,” Loeb reportedly said in a statement to Us Magazine.
Loeb reportedly requested that a judge issue a “no-destruction” order for the embryos, which are currently being stored in a Beverly Hills fertility clinic. Loeb ultimately hopes to father the children the former couple had planned together, should the embryos come to term via surrogacy.
Loeb reportedly told US Magazine he was willing to waive Vergara’s parental and financial responsibilities in order to be able to raise the children they had intended to parent together.
Meanwhile, Colombian bombshell Sofia Vergara — engaged to actor Joe Manganiello — is in the midst of promoting her new film, Hot Pursuit, and has refrained from commenting on the case.
Citing what may be a clear case of “sour grapes” of a jilted ex-boyfriend, Vergara’s lawyer Fred Silberberg issued a statement on her behalf, calling Loeb’s claims “without merit.” Vergara has no intention of destroying the embryos – says Silberberg — as the legal consent forms signed by both her and Loeb clearly state that neither party can destroy the embryos without mutual consent.
Vergara and Loeb called off their engagement in May 2014.
Do you think Loeb has any custodial rights of the embryos produced while engaged to Sofia Vergara, even though they are no longer in a relationship?
(Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
