Repro Lab, a Manhattan sperm bank and embryo center is being sued by a lesbian couple for losing six embryos. Cathy Berger and her domestic partner, Adriana Pacheco are seeking $3 million in damages for negligence in loss of irreplaceable property and infliction of emotional distress.
The frozen embryos were from Pacheco’s fertilized eggs and were discovered missing last year in May when Berger was making medical preparations for implantation. This is the second high profile case in a year involving Repro Lab. In November 2006, a judge ruled that a dead son’s sperm was not the property of the parents and needed to be destroyed, which set off a debate among U. S. ethicists.