IVF Embryo Ruling Leaves Hopeful Parents, Clinics in Legal Limbo

Across Alabama, fertility clinics phones won’t stop ringing. The main question from patients: Can I keep doing IVF?

“It’s been a panic,” said Brett Davenport, a doctor at the Fertility Institute of North Alabama, one of the shrinking number of clinics where in vitro fertilization is still available. “There is an overwhelming fear that IVF will not be able to be performed.”

Alabama’s fertility industry is under threat in the wake of a ruling from the state Supreme Court that said frozen embryos are considered children — meaning people who destroy them could be held liable for wrongful death. The decision has left patients and ...