California fertility doctor Brian Acacio sued for ‘stealing’ embryos

A Southern California fertility doctor who attended President Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address as the guest of a Democratic California congressman has been accused in a bombshell lawsuit of making off with dozens of couples’ embryos.

Dr. Brian Acacio had an IVF clinic in Orange County’s tony Laguna Niguel before he suddenly closed the practice and had his medical license suspended for drug use, KTLA reported.

He took the embryos some three hours north to Bakersfield, leading 26 distraught couples to sue for their return.

“I don’t know where our embryos are, I don’t know if they’re OK. It’s like a hostage situation,” one of the women involved in the lawsuit said.” said, according to KTLA. “I feel like they were kidnapped.”

The civil suit, filed in Orange County Superior Court, claims Acacio transported the embryos without their permission after he failed to tell them his license had been suspended by the California Medical Board.

“When patients began to find out about what had happened, they demanded the immediate return of their embryos,” Robert Marcereau, an attorney for the firm representing the couples, said during a press conference Tuesday.

“Dr. Acacio refused, stating he would not give back the embryos unless patients signed a document absolving him of any responsibility for his conduct.”

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Many patients only learned their embryos had been relocated when they attempted to schedule a transfer — the final stage of the in-vitro fertilization process — or heard about Acacio’s move through other patients and social media, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“Our first and most important goal is the lawful, expeditious but safe transfer of these embryos back to where they belong,” attorney Benjamin Ikuta said. “He’s stolen these people’s embryos. He’s held their families essentially hostage, and we want answers.”

The legal battles comes after the Medical Board of California issued an order preventing Acacio from practicing medicine after he allegedly violated restrictions placed on his medical license. 

According to the board, Acacio’s license was first placed under restrictions in October 2025 that required him to abstain from controlled substances and submit to biological testing.

But regulators later determined he violated those conditions after testing positive for marijuana, prompting a cease-practice order on Dec. 30, 2025 barring him from treating patients unless he completed a period of negative drug tests and receives authorization to return to work.

The lawsuit alleges Acacio continued to see patients even after his license was suspended and he failed to disclose the disciplinary action. Around that time, Acacio’s Laguna Niguel clinic was forced to close after falling more than $240,000 behind on rent.

For many couples, the ordeal has been emotionally devastating. “We’ve been through so much,” Christina Chandler said through tears at the press conference. “We just need them to be accountable. We want our embryos.”

Acacio was invited to President Biden’s final State of the Union address by Rep. Mike Levin, whose North County San Diego and South Orange County.

At the time, Levin said that Acacio has been “frequently named one of the top reproductive endocrinologists in California and in the nation,” noting that his “life-changing fertility work has helped thousands of California families.”

“As we defend reproductive freedom from attacks by extremist MAGA Republicans, I am proud to stand with Dr. Acacio and President Biden to ensure families have access to the reproductive tools and health care they need,” Levin added.