Sofia Vergara and ex fiancé Nick Loeb are embroiled in a bitter legal dispute over frozen embryos the couple had created when they were together.
Vergara, who is now married to actor Joe Manganiello, wants the embyros to remain frozen, but Loeb is fighting for the right to have them implanted in a surrogate so he can raise the children himself. Loeb filed the suit in 2014 after the couple split.
And as if the case wasn’t messy enough, with a judge recently ruling that Loeb must name exes who underwent abortions while they were with him, now a “right-to-life” lawsuit has been filed against the actress on behalf of the embryos.
Court papers filed in Louisiana list the embryos as plaintiffs named as “Isabella” and “Emma,” according to The New York Post‘s Page Six.
The alleged suit is seeking full custody of the fertilised eggs goes to Loeb so that he can have them implanted in surrogate.
RELATED: Sofia Vergara Lawsuit With Ex Over Embryos Gets Ugly
The Modern Family star’s lawyers issued a statement to People regarding these latest reports.
“That genetic material was created pursuant to a written agreement that required both parties written consent to attempt to create a pregnancy. Apparently Mr. Loeb and his counsel, knowing that he was about to lose decided to attempt to save face by taking their proverbial ball and going home,” the statement read.
“Reports are out that Mr. Loeb has caused a lawsuit to be filed on behalf of the pre-embryos in Louisiana, essentially trying to get the same relief that he was trying to get through his failed legal attempt in California.”
The statement declares this latest move as one by Loeb to keep himself in the public eye and linked to the actress and hopes to garner sympathy.
“The media reports contend that Mr. Loeb has caused a lawsuit to be initiated claiming that the pre-embryos — which are not embryos, but rather frozen fertilized ova — have been given names by him and have a right to live. Loeb apparently thinks that he will garner sympathy from the public and the courts through this latest maneuver, one that we believe will also result in failure.”