The UC Board of Regents has quietly settled a dozen lawsuits stemming from fertility fraud uncovered nearly 15 years ago -- drawing closer to an end a scandal that has dogged UC Irvine and left behind dozens of heartbroken couples.
Shirel and Steve Crawford recently deposited their $675,000 settlement, minus legal fees, but it brought them little peace. In the late 1980s, in the midst of what many consider the country's worst fertility scandal, the Crawfords believe their embryos were given to a woman referred to in documents as "Mrs. S." Mrs. S gave birth to a boy and a girl in two separate pregnancies while Shirel Crawford -- out of money and embryos -- never had a baby.
"I don't think it will ever be over," Shirel Crawford said. "Our children are still out there somewhere. Maybe someday they will find us."
The Crawfords' case was among a dozen settled in recent months for a total of $4.23 million. The payments ranged from $45,000 to the Crawfords' $675,000. In all, the University of California has paid out more than $24 million for 137 separate incidents in which eggs or embryos were either unaccounted for or given to other women without consent. Three cases are still pending.
The two doctors at the center of the malpractice -- Ricardo Asch and Jose Balmaceda -- fled the country and continue to evade criminal prosecution, leaving the university to deal with the civil lawsuits that followed.
The scandal first came to light in 1995 when the Orange County Register reported that the world-renowned fertility doctors at UC Irvine's Center for Reproductive Health had stolen eggs or embryos for years and had given them to other women. The revelation sparked international news coverage, investigations and state hearings and tainted the university, which whistle-blowers said had ignored early warnings and tried to cover up problems.
UC Irvine, in a statement, said, it is "honoring its commitment to treat each claim fairly and on its merits." Officials declined to comment further until the remaining claims are resolved.
"It's heartbreaking stuff, truly. There is no excuse," said attorney Dan Hodes, who represented the couples. "But at the end of the day, the regents accepted reasonable responsibility for what occurred. I'm not saying the settlements were generous. What I am saying is that they were reasonably fair and came after hard negotiations."
