Four More Suits Filed Against Fertility Clinic

A Mexican woman filed suit Wednesday claiming that her eggs and embryos were stolen by UC Irvine fertility doctors and given to an Italian couple who had twins within a year.

The suit by Martha and Alejandro Hinojosa of Mexico was among four new claims filed Wednesday against the clinic, and brings the total to 80.

The Hinojosas visited the clinic’s Garden Grove branch in late 1989 seeking help in having children, but they were unsuccessful, according to attorney Lawrence S. Eisenberg.

The couple claim in their suit that Martha Hinojosa’s eggs were transferred without her consent to a citizen of Italy.

Eisenberg said he used UCI medical documents to track the eggs to a woman who bore a boy and girl.

A former donor and two couples also filed suit Wednesday claiming that their biological material was mishandled by clinic personnel, court records show.

* Deborah Palty Sperry, a South County resident, filed suit claiming that eggs and embryos were taken from her without her knowledge when she visited the Laguna Hills offices of the clinic in 1994. Sperry claims in her suit that she had agreed to donate eggs to a specific recipient, but extra embryos were removed and routed to unknown women.

* Cruz and Luis Flores of Mexico claim in their suit that clinic personnel at the Saddleback branch said more eggs would be removed than would be reflected in medical records. The couple now claim those eggs were diverted to unknown recipients.

* Debbie and Tom Olson of Kansas claim in their suit that eggs or embryos were taken during a 1992 visit to the clinic. The Olsons claim that biological material was either discarded or given to an unknown recipient without their consent.