{"id":822295,"date":"2026-03-06T15:01:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T20:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cafemom.com\/?p=822295"},"modified":"2026-03-06T15:01:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T20:01:14","slug":"patients-suing-fertility-doctor-relocated-embryos-without-consent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafemom.com\/parenting\/patients-suing-fertility-doctor-relocated-embryos-without-consent","title":{"rendered":"26 Patients Suing Fertility Doctor Who Practiced With Suspended License Over ‘Kidnapped’ Embryos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over two dozen people in Southern California are coming together to sue a prominent fertility doctor after a terrible experience with Acacio Fertility Center. Dr. Brian David Acacio operated a fertility clinic<\/a> in both Laguna Niguel and Bakersfield, and his patients are saying he moved their embryos without their consent. Not just that, but he’s also not giving them any information about where he’s storing them. Anyone who has undergone any sort of fertility treatment knows what a long and expensive process<\/a> it can be. You have to trust your doctors because they literally hold someone else’s life in their hands. Now these couples are left wondering if they’ll ever have the families they’ve dreamed about.<\/p>

At a news conference on March 3, 2026, the couples announced that in the last few months, they’ve learned that Acacio abruptly shut down his office<\/a> in Laguna Niguel and moved their embryos to Bakersfield without telling them, KTLA reported. They’re filing the lawsuit in an attempt to get their embryos back.<\/p>

According to the lawsuit, for over a year, Acacio failed to pay rent for the Laguna Niguel facility where the embryos were stored. The total equaled more than $243,000, per KTLA. But when he moved the embryos to Bakersfield in December 2025, he didn’t have patient consent.<\/p>

Additionally, Acacio allegedly told patients he’d only release embryos to them if they signed a document absolving him of responsibility, KTLA reported. <\/p>

“Just do the right thing. I don’t know where our embryos are, I don’t know if they’re OK. It’s like a hostage situation<\/a>. I feel like they were kidnapped,” shared one woman involved in the lawsuit.<\/p>