Psychology and the Legislative Future of In Vitro Fertilization

Authors

Kerry L. Macintosh, Santa Clara University School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

In LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine, P.C.,¹ three couples that had undergone in vitro fertilization (hereinafter IVF) sued a fertility clinic and hospital after their stored embryos were lost in an accident.² The plaintiffs included claims under Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act (hereinafter Act), which imposes liability for a wrongful act, omission, or negligence that causes the death of a “minor child.”³ The trial court dismissed the wrongful death claims, holding that the embryos were not children.⁴ The Alabama Supreme Court, however, reversed the dismissal, reasoning that the lost embryos qualified as unborn children within the Act.⁵

Automated Citation

Kerry L. Macintosh, Psychology and the Legislative Future of In Vitro Fertilization , 21 JHBL 001 (2024),
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/facpubs/1033