holywood model: Alabama Tried to Control My Frozen Embryos. What’s Going to Come Next?

When pediatrician Aubrey Coleman, 31, moved out of Alabama this past fall, she left something important behind: six frozen embryos. Coleman had gone through IVF treatment a few years prior and was able to get pregnant with her daughter, but she wanted to keep her remaining frozen embryos stored in hopes she could use them later to have more children. So when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in late February that frozen embryos—which, throughout the IVF process, are often discarded or fail to transfer to the uterus—are humans, and state fertility clinics halted IVF procedures out of fear, Coleman panicked. At the time, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra called the ruling

Coleman was trying to get her embryos out of the state when, due to widespread outcry, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation into law protecting IVF providers, and clinics resumed treatment. But as experts have pointed out, the law doesn't address the issue of whether embryos are considered children, and now, a majority of U.S. House Republicans are supporting similar legislation that would threaten access to IVF across the country—leaving patients like Coleman confused and uneasy about the future."I still feel very uncomfortable with my embryos being in Alabama," she says. Here, in her own words, Coleman shares her story." title="When pediatrician Aubrey Coleman, 31, moved out of Alabama this past fall, she left something important behind: six frozen embryos. Coleman had gone through IVF treatment a few years prior and was able to get pregnant with her daughter, but she wanted to keep her remaining frozen embryos stored in hopes she could use them later to have more children. So when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in late February that frozen embryos—which, throughout the IVF process, are often discarded or fail to transfer to the uterus—are humans, and state fertility clinics halted IVF procedures out of fear, Coleman panicked. At the time, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra called the ruling "a devastating example of the chaos caused by Dobbs."

Coleman was trying to get her embryos out of the state when, due to widespread outcry, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation into law protecting IVF providers, and clinics resumed treatment. But as experts have pointed out, the law doesn't address the issue of whether embryos are considered children, and now, a majority of U.S. House Republicans are supporting similar legislation that would threaten access to IVF across the country—leaving patients like Coleman confused and uneasy about the future."I still feel very uncomfortable with my embryos being in Alabama," she says. Here, in her own words, Coleman shares her story.">

Alabama Tried to Control My Frozen Embryos. What's Going to Come Next?

When pediatrician Aubrey Coleman, 31, moved out of Alabama this past fall, she left something important behind: six frozen embryos. Coleman had gone through IVF treatment a few years prior and was able to get pregnant with her daughter, but she wanted to keep her remaining frozen embryos stored in hopes she could use them later to have more children. So when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in late February that frozen embryos—which, throughout the IVF process, are often discarded or fail to transfer to the uterus—are humans, and state fertility clinics halted IVF procedures out of fear, Coleman panicked. At the time, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra called the ruling "a devastating example of the chaos caused by Dobbs."

Coleman was trying to get her embryos out of the state when, due to widespread outcry, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation into law protecting IVF providers, and clinics resumed treatment. But as experts have pointed out, the law doesn't address the issue of whether embryos are considered children, and now, a majority of U.S. House Republicans are supporting similar legislation that would threaten access to IVF across the country—leaving patients like Coleman confused and uneasy about the future."I still feel very uncomfortable with my embryos being in Alabama," she says. Here, in her own words, Coleman shares her story.

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