UC Irvine Fertility Scandal Isn't Over

But UC Irvine acknowledged this week that it failed to contact at least 20 couples, some of whom have learned only in recent years that their fertilized embryos produced children born to other women more than 15 years ago.

"I have children, and I don't know where they're at," said Rosalinda Elison, who learned in 2002 that her eggs and embryos had been stolen and implanted in another woman, who gave birth to twins. "I feel so cheated and so betrayed."

Now the Elisons are among 29 couples who have found their lives in turmoil.

After learning from attorneys involved in other fertility cases that their eggs and embryos had been stolen, the Elisons and the 28 other couples sued the University of California system, most of them in 2003. But even as UCI Medical Center, in Orange, has conceded it did not contact patients, it has also moved to minimize the amount it could be forced to pay victims, arguing that the statute of limitations has expired.

"We feel there needs to be an end and a conclusion to this litigation," said Byron Beam, UC's lead attorney on the case. "That's not to say that we're not willing to continue to talk" to lawyers for the women and consider financial settlements. But any settlement, he said, must take into account that the misdeeds occurred as long as 18 years ago.

Lawyers are scheduled to meet today to discuss a possible settlement. The meeting will follow a recent flurry of letters sent by attorneys for the former patients to UC Regents and university attorneys, accusing them of stalling.

Beam acknowledged that UCI didn't contact two-thirds of the patients in the newly filed suits. He said UCI sent letters in 1995, and in 2000, to those whose addresses it had. He said the university even hired a private investigator to track them down.

Some couples did receive letters from UCI, but after talking to administrators they were left with the impression they were not affected, said San Diego attorney John K. Baldwin, who is handling many of the cases. He said his firm had tracked down additional patients to let them know about the thefts and that more lawsuits were likely.