Legal personhood and frozen embryos: implications for fertility patients and providers in post-Roe America

The demise of Roe v. Wade has prompted some state lawmakers to try to redefine legal personhood to begin before birth and even before pregnancy. The sweeping abortion bans passed and pending in the wake of Dobbs pose a threat to reproductive rights that extends beyond abortion. That threat spills over into in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technologies (ART). If legislatures designate embryos as legal persons, fertility clinics will be forced to change how they manage embryos, including current standard practices such as pre-implantation genetic testing, storage of unused embryos, and the disposal of those unlikely to have reproductive potential. This essay examines the many ways in which conferring the status of persons under private and public law is likely to impact patients pursuing IVF and clinics practicing ART.