Background: The Acacio Fertility Center in Bakersfield, Calif. (Google Maps). Inset: Dr. Brian Acacio (YouTube/Acacio Fertility Center).
A California fertility doctor is facing a lawsuit from several of his former patients after they claimed he took their embryos and refused to give them back.
Attorney Robert Marcereau represented 26 families at a press conference on Tuesday that was carried by several local media outlets, telling the media that fertility specialist Dr. Brian Acacio had been evicted from his office in Laguna Niguel after failing to pay rent for a year. In December 2025, Acacio shuttered his clinic, "secretly rounded up all of his patients' embryos, loaded them into a truck, and drove them four hours north to Bakersfield," the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, which was obtained by Los Angeles-based CBS affiliate KCBS, Acacio had his license suspended because he was allegedly using drugs. The lawsuit alleged that despite the suspension, which took effect on December 30, 2025, Acacio continued to practice. One patient, Marina Reyes, told KCBS that Acacio performed "a pretty invasive ultrasound" on her on Jan. 2.
Another patient, Christina Chandler, said at the press conference that during a fluid ultrasound, Acacio "had an IV in his arm."
Before the full suspension, his license was placed on an interim order imposing restrictions on Oct. 8, 2025. The lawsuit said that after that date, and leading up to the full suspension in December, Acacio's patients experienced "IVF treatment delays, medication and scheduling errors, unexpected clinic operational disruptions, billing disputes, and difficulties related to embryo storage, transfer, and release."
The lawsuit's main goal is the return of the embryos that Acacio had in his custody. Marcereau said that by December 2025, Acacio was facing eviction from his office after not paying $243,000 in rent. The lawsuit claimed that Acacio packed up his office without telling any of his patients and took the embryos with him, keeping them in an unknown location in Bakersfield, California.
Marcereau said at the press conference, "To this day, we do not know exactly where those embryos are or whether they are safe."
He said Acacio was "holding these patients' embryos hostage" and refusing to give them back to the families unless they agreed to sign a document "absolving him of any responsibility for his conduct."
Berenice Cervantes, another one of Acacio's patients, told Los Angeles-based Nexstar affiliate KTLA, "It's like a hostage situation. I feel like they were kidnapped. I don't know where they are, we don't know where they are," referring to the embryos.
The families who joined the lawsuit are seeking a court order to force the return of their embryos.
Acacio declined Law&Crime's request for comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
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