A Massachusetts woman filed a lawsuit against Providence, R.I.-based Women & Infants Hospital in January, claiming the hospital stored one of her embryos without her knowledge for 13 years, reports The Providence Journal.
After having her first child, Marisa Cloutier-Bristol underwent an in vitro fertilization treatment at Women & Infants in 2004. A physician told Ms. Cloutier-Bristol she produced four embryos, but all were abnormal and would not lead to viable pregnancies.
"At that point [the physician], we thought, was just going to discard [the embryos] because I was not having an input back," Ms. Cloutier-Bristol told The Providence Journal. "She never told me that she was going to freeze anything."
Ms. Cloutier-Bristol's first husband died of a heart attack in 2006. In late 2008, Ms. Cloutier-Bristol returned to Women's & Infants to try IVF treatment again with her current husband. The hospital did not mention it had one of her embryos in storage.
Ms. Cloutier-Bristol learned of the frozen embryo in 2017 when Women & Infants sent her a letter saying she had to pay a $500 storage fee for the embryo. She claims in the lawsuit that the hospital's negligence took away her chance of having another child and caused severe emotional distress. The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages from the hospital.
Women & Infants spokesperson Amy Blustein declined to comment to The Providence Journal on Ms. Cloutier-Bristol's specific case, citing privacy laws. However, she shared the following statement:
"Our approach to care is guided by comprehensive policies and procedures that evolve as our services, technology and the needs of our patients change. We maintain a commitment to open and honest communication with all patients about all aspects of their fertility treatment."