ABC/Bob D’Amico(NEW YORK) — The ex-fiance of Modern Family star Sofia Vergara says he’d like to preserve her embryos from ever being destroyed. And he’s taking the battle to the courtroom.
Nick Loeb, from whom Vergara announced her split in May 2014, penned an opinion piece published Thursday by the New York Times to explain why he wants to “protect” the embryos he says the couple used in-vitro fertilization to create.
“These are issues that, unlike abortion, have nothing to do with the rights over one’s own body and everything to do with a parent’s right to protect the life of his or her unborn child,” Loeb wrote in the piece, titled, “Sofía Vergara’s Ex-Fiancé: Our Frozen Embryos Have a Right to Live.”
Loeb filed the complaint over the embryos last August in Santa Monica, Calif., and claims he was the one who pushed for children when the couple got engaged in 2012. He says they used in-vitro fertilization to create the two embryos in 2013, just six months before the couple broke up.
Vergara, whom Loeb claims planned to use a surrogate, spoke about freezing her eggs on Good Morning America in 2013.
“I wanted to make sure I already froze some eggs so, you know, I wanted to take advantage of the science and why not,” the actress said.
Loeb, a businessman and banking heir, does not allege that Vergara is actively trying to destroy the embryos. He writes that it is his mission to preserve them at all costs.
“I asked her to let me have the embryos, offering to pay for all expenses to carry our girls to term and raise them,” he wrote. “She has refused.”
The couple signed an agreement when the embryos were created, that states that “no unilateral action can be taken with regard to the embryos unless both parties consent.”
Vergara is now engaged to Magic Mike XXL star Joe Manganiello and has spoken publicly about possibly expanding her family with Manganiello. Vergara has a 23-year-old son, Manolo, from a previous marriage.
Loeb writes in the New York Times that he also wants a family of his own.
“Many have asked me: Why not just move on and have family of your own? I have every intention of doing so. But that doesn’t mean I should let the two lives I have already created be destroyed or sit in a freezer until the end of time,” he wrote.
Vergara declined to comment on Loeb’s opinion piece to ABC News.
In a statement earlier this month to People magazine, Vergara’s attorney said the actress “has never wanted to destroy her embryos.”
“Vergara, who has happily moved on with her life, is content to leave the embryos frozen indefinitely as she has no desire to have children with her ex, which should be understandable given the circumstances,” her attorney, Fred Silberberg, said.
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