CooperSurgical Embryo Loss Lawsuit Claims Manufacturing Defect Caused Failed IVF Transfer, Emotional Trauma

Lawsuit alleges couple underwent additional fertility treatments before learning recalled CooperSurgical culture media may have caused failed IVF transfer.

A New Mexico couple has filed a product liability lawsuit alleging CooperSurgical distributed defective embryo culture media that lacked magnesium, an essential ingredient for embryo development.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by a woman known as L.B. and her husband, K.B., in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico on October 23, 2026, naming CooperSurgical Inc. as the sole defendant.

The couple claims the defect caused them to lose what they believed was their only remaining embryo screened as both chromosomally normal and female, resulting in additional fertility treatments and lasting emotional distress.

IVF Embryo Risks

During in vitro fertilization (IVF), eggs are retrieved from a woman’s ovaries and fertilized with sperm in a laboratory. The resulting embryos are placed in specialized culture media to support their development before being transferred into the uterus in hopes of achieving pregnancy. IVF treatment can take months or years and cost tens of thousands of dollars.

In late 2023, CooperSurgical issued a LifeGlobal IVF culture media recall after reports indicated that certain batches were interfering with embryo development, potentially causing couples to lose embryos and undergo additional costly fertility treatments.

Since then, dozens of CooperSurgical IVF culture media lawsuits have been filed, alleging manufacturing defects made the products unsafe for developing embryos. The complaints also claim CooperSurgical failed to adequately warn fertility clinics and prospective parents that the defective media could damage or destroy embryos, leaving them unsuitable for transfer.

CooperSurgical Embryo Media Defect Allegations

According to the complaint, L.B. began fertility treatment in November 2020 after being diagnosed with several reproductive conditions. She underwent an egg retrieval in June 2021, experienced severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and later gave birth to the couple’s son in July 2022.

The couple subsequently decided to pursue another pregnancy despite being advised of increased risks associated with complications during the earlier delivery. L.B. underwent months of hormone therapy, daily progesterone injections and a hysteroscopy to prepare for another embryo transfer. On November 30, 2023, the couple’s fertility clinic allegedly thawed and cultured their embryo in one of the recalled CooperSurgical media lots before transferring it.

Filings indicate the couple believed the embryo was their only remaining one screened as both chromosomally normal and female. Pregnancy tests on December 8 and December 11 confirmed the transfer had failed.

The couple initially believed the failure was related to the embryo itself, based on their physician’s assessment. Without knowing about the recalled media, L.B. underwent another round of hormone therapy, daily injections and a second hysteroscopy in January 2024.

On February 2, 2024, their fertility physician informed them that the embryo transferred in November had been exposed to recalled CooperSurgical culture media, which was suspected of contributing to the failed transfer.

Another embryo transfer was attempted on February 7, 2024, using an embryo with less than 85% confidence of normal chromosome 22 pairing. The complaint alleges the higher-risk genetic screening result caused substantial anxiety and prompted additional prenatal testing.

The second transfer resulted in a successful pregnancy, and the couple’s daughter was born on October 22, 2024. However, they claim the earlier embryo loss caused lasting emotional distress, which was compounded when L.B. experienced bleeding and received treatment for a threatened miscarriage in March 2024.

The couple began professional counseling in November 2024.

“The defect made the Recalled Lots unreasonably dangerous. They posed an unreasonable risk of injury to the embryos cultured in them, and to the patients whose bodies and treatment depended on those embryos. A reasonably prudent person with full knowledge of the risk would find it unacceptable.”

— L.B. et al. v. CooperSurgical Inc.

The lawsuit alleges CooperSurgical failed to include magnesium, an essential ingredient for embryo development, in certain batches of its LifeGlobal culture media. L.B. and her husband claim inadequate manufacturing controls, ingredient monitoring and product testing allowed the defective media to be distributed to fertility clinics. They also allege CooperSurgical received reports of arrested embryo development before their November 30 transfer but failed to promptly warn clinics or remove the affected products from use.

The couple raises allegations of manufacturing defect, design defect, failure to warn, negligence, negligent breach of the continuing duty to warn, loss of consortium, trespass to chattels and intentional infliction of emotional distress. They seek punitive and compensatory damages.

CooperSurgical IVF Settlement

In May 2026, CooperSurgical reached a settlement resolving a class action lawsuit filed in March 2024 over allegations that defective LifeGlobal IVF culture media caused embryos to be destroyed during fertility treatments.

The settlement came nearly two years after the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) rejected a request to consolidate similar CooperSurgical lawsuits before one federal judge for coordinated pretrial proceedings.

At the time, at least 30 lawsuits involving the allegedly defective IVF culture media were pending in federal courts nationwide. However, the JPML determined that formal consolidation was unnecessary, finding that the parties and courts could coordinate the cases informally.

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