Column: Families Pursuing IVF Deserve Better from the Fertility Industry

Special to The Virginian-Pilot and The Virginia Daily Press, by Kearsten and Zachary Walden, Guest Columnists

In-vitro fertilization is a lifeline, a remarkable medical advancement that allows countless individuals and couples struggling with infertility a chance to experience the joy of parenthood. For so many of us, IVF isn’t just a medical procedure; it’s a deeply personal journey filled with hope, sacrifice and an often heavy emotional toll. Yet, alongside the promise that IVF holds, we face a growing crisis: political efforts to limit access to reproductive care and, even more concerningly, the alarming pattern of avoidable failures within the fertility industry. Both trends threaten to unravel the delicate dreams of hopeful parents everywhere.

We’ve been affected firsthand by one of these failures. We recently filed a lawsuit that contends our embryos, created with great care, were destroyed by a defective culture solution manufactured by a company called CooperSurgical. In that heartbreaking instant, our chance at a biological child was stripped away — not due to a natural complication but due to a preventable failure caused by corporate negligence. And as we’ve learned, we are not alone.

Infertility affects millions worldwide, touching lives in ways that few fully understand. The World Health Organization estimates that 1 in 6 people globally will experience infertility, while recent Pew Research findings indicate that 42% of Americans have either undergone IVF themselves or know someone who has. Those numbers reflect the vast reach of this struggle, which is why it’s crucial to establish safeguards in the fertility industry.

Instead, we’re seeing dangerous legal shifts that threaten the rights of IVF patients. Earlier this year, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos should be considered children under the law, prompting the Alabama legislature to pass a bill that supposedly aims to protect access to IVF.

However, this new law does the opposite for families like ours. By granting doctors, clinics and IVF manufacturers immunity from criminal and civil litigation — even in cases of proven negligence — it removes the very protections patients need most. Rather than supporting hopeful parents, this misguided law shields an industry that has already demonstrated troubling carelessness with the hopes and dreams of families.

The impact of such protections is staggering. Thousands of families beyond our own have suffered due to incidents like ours, joining other high-profile cases such as the Pacific Fertility Center’s tragic loss of 4,000 embryos and eggs. When these kinds of devastating failures occur, patients should have the ability to seek justice, accountability and closure. Shielding the industry from responsibility essentially tells families like ours that our losses don’t matter, that our grief is inconsequential.

These blanket immunities do more than harm hopeful parents; they encourage the fertility industry to cut corners, favoring profits over patient care. IVF is already an emotionally and financially costly process. Patients put their trust in fertility companies with the understanding that every step will be handled with the utmost caution, professionalism and empathy. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, and when something goes wrong, the fallout can be life-altering.

The solution is clear. Instead of sweeping protections for IVF manufacturers and providers, we need policies that focus on the well-being of families. Fertility care should be accessible and safe, with regulations that prioritize patient safety and prevent catastrophic failures. Hopeful parents should have the opportunity to seek justice when failures arise — not be left powerless by legal loopholes that protect corporations at their expense.

As IVF becomes a more accessible option for family-building, it’s critical to create a regulatory landscape that supports those who seek it. We call on lawmakers, health care providers and fertility companies to consider the weight of their responsibilities. Let us build a future where patients are protected, where the industry is held accountable, and where the dream of creating a family is met with compassion, diligence and respect.

Kearsten and Zachary Walden, of Norfolk, are plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought by Lieff Cabraser and co-counsel against CooperSurgical alleging the company’s culture solution destroyed their embryos in the IVF process.