Sofia Vergara's lawyer responds to embryo lawsuit reports
Sofia Vergara’s lawyer has responded to reports that she is being sued by her own frozen embryos, saying that he believes the alleged lawsuit will “result in failure.”
The alleged lawsuit is the latest event in an ongoing battle with her ex-fiancé, Nick Loeb -- creator of Loeb’s Onion Crunch, Pickle Crunch and others. Loeb previously attempted and failed to gain custody of two frozen female embryos he created with Vergara in California that he calls Isabella and Emma. He said he wanted to bring them to term in spite of his breakup with Vergara and an agreement they had. The frozen embryos are at a fertility clinic in Los Angeles.
Loeb is reportedly now taking the lawsuit to Louisiana -- a state that has special protections for embryos -- on the grounds that the embryos have a trust there and are being deprived of an inheritance by staying frozen, says Page Six.
While Vergara’s lawyer, Fred Silberberg, would not confirm if the lawsuit was indeed filed, he did acknowledge reports and told Us Weekly in a statement, “Next week the judge presiding over the case was to rule on Ms. Vergara’s request for sanctions against Mr. Loeb for refusing to comply with a court order and on her motion for summary judgment -- seeking dismissal of the case he filed against her, attempting to get control of pre-embryos that he created with Vergara.” He added that reports state Loeb is now trying to bring the lawsuit to Louisiana, and if it is true, he believes Loeb will fail.
Silberberg pointed out that Vergara and Loeb had a written agreement that both parties had to consent in order to bring the embryos to term. He also said that the embryos “are not embryos, but rather frozen fertilized ova.”
Vergara is now married to actor Joe Manganiello. Silberberg added in his statement that Vergara is “happily married” and should be spared “another unnecessary legal battle.”
In April 2015, Loeb, who was engaged to Vergara from 2012 until they broke up in 2014, wrote in the New York Times that he believed he was entitled to bring the embryos to term.
“A woman is entitled to bring a pregnancy to term even if the man objects,” he said. “Shouldn’t a man who is willing to take on all parental responsibilities be similarly entitled to bring his embryos to term even if the woman objects?”
Loeb also said that Vergara’s lawyer told reporters that she wants to keep the embryos frozen indefinitely.
“In my view, keeping them frozen forever is tantamount to killing them,” he said.
