Modern Family star Sofia Vergara has spent the past several months in a protracted battle with her former fiancé over a pair of embryos, frozen when they were a couple.
Vergara dated Nick Loeb for several years, and the pair created two embryos through IVF, with the intention of bringing them to term through a surrogate at a future date.
The pair split in 2014, and although they had signed a form specifying that the embryos could only be brought to term with the consent of both parents, Loeb filed a civil complaint.
He claimed that their agreement was invalid under California law as it failed to cover what would happen in the event of a separation, and that for her to keep them frozen indefinitely would be “tantamount to killing them.”
Per reports today in News Limited, it now appears that the case will be headed to court, with a judge in California ruling that Loeb can file an amended lawsuit seeking custody of the two embryos.
Vergara’s lawyers oppose this, saying that Loeb’s pleading is a “sham”, as he has still failed to state a legal claim to the embryos, and that the initial agreement, requiring the consent of both parties to bring them to term, still stands.
The actress herself has frequently called bullshit on her ex-partner’s claims, saying at one point:
“There is a contract that he can’t do anything. We wrote what we wanted at the time. It’s not like a contract [where] they give [it to] you right there the moment they’re gonna take the eggs out – no, they give you this in advance. You see it, you review it, and not only that, we did it two times … Two times and suddenly you want to change your mind? What judge is going to say OK? Even if it’s life or not life, it’s not what he signed at the moment. You know, you should have thought about all of that.”
Loeb’s lawyers say that the outcome of the case is a “personal, private struggle” for him, and that he “does believe that they are his daughters.”
Vergara, who has a son from a previous relationship, is engaged to True Blood and Magic Mike star Joe Manganiello, and has revealed that she is eager to have children with him at some point in the near future.
Photo: Robyn Beck via Getty Images
