JosiahW / Splash NewsThe battle over Nick Loeb and Sofía Vergara's embryos is getting ugly.
Vergara slammed her ex-fiancé's lawsuit in a statement obtained by E! News by her lawyer, saying it holds "no merit," but it looks like Loeb will continue to fight this battle publicly until the court decides in his favor.
The businessman penned an op-ed in the New York Times explaining the difficult situation with his Modern Family-starring ex, describing the issue at hand as having "nothing to do with the rights over one's own body, and everything to do with a parent's right to protect the life of his or her unborn child."
Loeb writes about how the situation came to be, detailing in full his relationship with the Colombian-born actress and his intense desire for children after his parents divorced and then losing his mother at a young age.
"For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of being a parent. I was only a year old when my parents divorced. My father gained custody, and my mother virtually disappeared from my life," he writes. "I did not see her again until I was 9, and she died when I was 20. This made me yearn for the type of family based on the images one might see in a Norman Rockwell painting."
When he and Vergara got together and eventually became engaged, he claims she insisted on using a surrogate. Their first round of in vitro yielded two female embryos, one of which didn't take and one that resulted in a miscarriage, leaving Loeb to feel "crushed." One year later they created two more embryos, both female, but they ended up splitting up over alleged disagreements regarding parenthood.
Although they are no longer together, Loeb would like to try to bring the embryos to term and "take full parenting responsibilities." He has offered to make Vergara declared an egg donor, but he writes that she "refused" and would prefer to keep them "frozen indefinitely."
"In my view, keeping them frozen forever is tantamount to killing them," he writes in his op-ed. "I take the responsibility and obligation of being a parent very seriously. This is not just about saving lives; it is also about being pro-parent."
Vergara's lawyer told E! News, "Vergara, who has happily moved on with her life, is content to leave the embryos frozen indefinitely as she has no desire to have children with her ex, which should be understandable given the circumstances."
Section C of the consent form states that "unless otherwise directed by both of us in writing in person...or by notarized letter, the Center shall continue to store the Cryopreserved Material for an indefinite period of time."