A West Hollywood fertility center was sued today by a couple who allege sperm samples that the man deposited before he had surgery for testicular cancer were mistakenly destroyed, making it unlikely he will ever have any biological children.
Justin Hollman and Kristin Bruun-Andersen filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Reproductive Fertility Center and Dr. Peyman Sadaat seeking unspecified damages for negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, breach of contract and loss of consortium.
A representative of the clinic, which is at 9201 Sunset Blvd. near Doheny Rd., and Sadaat did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
According to the lawsuit, Hollman discovered a lump in his testicular area in January 1991 when he was 20 years old. He had surgery to remove his left testicle and a tumor behind his stomach, the suit states.
Hollman’s doctor recommended that he deposit sperm with a clinic before the surgery so he could conceive his own children in the future, the suit states. He left five vials of sperm with the Tyler Medical Clinic, which is now known as the Reproductive Fertility Center, according to the lawsuit.
Hollman had three chemotherapy sessions beginning in April 1991 and was later determined to be cancer-free, the suit states. In September 1988, Hollman, who had continued to pay the clinic to store his sperm, met and fell in love with Bruun-Andersen, the suit states.
“During the time Hollman courted Bruun-Andersen each shared their dreams about having children and Hollman explained … that he had stored viable sperm that he could utilize in the future,” the suit states.
The couple married in 2005 and decided to have children in 2013 throughin vitro fertilization, according to the lawsuit. Hollman went to the Reproductive Fertility Center to ask that his sperm be transferred to his wife’s fertility doctor, but was given paperwork to sign purporting to authorize the destruction of the samples, the suit alleges.
Hollman refused to sign the documents and asked to speak with one of the center’s doctors, the suit states. Saadat called Hollman later that day and told him that his samples were destroyed weeks earlier due to “human error,” according to the lawsuit.
At Saadat’s recommendation, Hollman had surgery to aspirate his sperm, but his remaining testis did not contain normal amounts of sperm, the suit states. Of the three embryos created from the small amount of sperm surgically aspirated from Hollman, none survived, according to the lawsuit.
The guy killed trying to cross Santa Monica Bl. was a mistake. The cutting off of the head of Foley was only a mistake. The killing of the young man near St Louise was a mistake. We should all just forgive and forget.
THIS CLINIC KILLED OFF ANY CHANCE OF THIS COUPLE OF EVER CONCEIVING A CHILD.
Its a sad mistake….but that is all it is, a mistake, things happen and we are all human, if it was a human error well it happens, although one doesn’t really know the entire story….but its an unfortunate mistake for that fellow and his wife. I am saddened by their story, he has gone through a lot and took the necessary steps to fulfilling his future in having his own children. I am a bit distraught tho, in believing that the facility would have given the patient paperwork to sign for destruction of his sperm samples…it makes no sense, we… Read more »
Hollman did everything right including paying for storage of his sperm samples. The clinic was well aware of their so called mistake and attempted to trick Hollman into authorizing the distruction of the samples. The clinic and the doctor should pay Hollman and his wife a sizable amount in addition to paying for further extra ordianary procedures in a attempt to harvest Hollmans sperm no matter how expensive said procedure will cost.