Over two dozen people in Southern California are coming together to sue a prominent fertility doctor after a terrible experience with Acacio Fertility Center. Dr. Brian David Acacio operated a fertility clinic in both Laguna Niguel and Bakersfield, and his patients are saying he moved their embryos without their consent. Not just that, but he’s also not giving them any information about where he’s storing them. Anyone who has undergone any sort of fertility treatment knows what a long and expensive process it can be. You have to trust your doctors because they literally hold someone else’s life in their hands. Now these couples are left wondering if they’ll ever have the families they’ve dreamed about.
At a news conference on March 3, 2026, the couples announced that in the last few months, they’ve learned that Acacio abruptly shut down his office in Laguna Niguel and moved their embryos to Bakersfield without telling them, KTLA reported. They’re filing the lawsuit in an attempt to get their embryos back.
According to the lawsuit, for over a year, Acacio failed to pay rent for the Laguna Niguel facility where the embryos were stored. The total equaled more than $243,000, per KTLA. But when he moved the embryos to Bakersfield in December 2025, he didn’t have patient consent.
Additionally, Acacio allegedly told patients he’d only release embryos to them if they signed a document absolving him of responsibility, KTLA reported.
“Just do the right thing. I don’t know where our embryos are, I don’t know if they’re OK. It’s like a hostage situation. I feel like they were kidnapped,” shared one woman involved in the lawsuit.
Effective October 8, 2025, Acacio’s medical license was restricted, and he was required to abstain from “controlled substances,” the lawsuit alleges, per the Times. He was also ordered to comply with “biological fluid testing” at the Medical Board of California’s request, read a news release from the Fertility Law Group.
On December 30, 2025, Acacio was ordered to stop practicing medicine because he “violated” the restrictions by “testing positive for prohibited substances.”
“Dr. Acacio’s license to practice medicine was suspended by the medical board because he was abusing illegal drugs. He never told any of his patients about that,” Fertility Law Group attorney Robert H. Marcereau told KABC. According to Marcereau, Acacio continued to practice medicine with a suspended medical license.
Marina Reyes, who lives in Bakersfield, told KABC that she had an invasive ultrasound on January 2, 2026, and was scheduled to have her embryos transferred a short time later. The transfer was postponed before it was canceled completely. “It has taken a toll on us emotionally, physically and financially,” she shared.
Another patient, Bernice Cervantes, spoke about her embryos, saying “I feel like they were kidnapped. I don’t know where they are.”
Though 26 people have been named in the lawsuit thus far, lawyers believe more patients may be out there who are affected. Patients who underwent fertility services with Dr. Brian Acacio or Acacio Fertility Center in 2024 through 2026, particularly those who experienced unexpected complications, losses, treatment delays, or difficulties obtaining release of their embryos, are encouraged to contact Fertility Law Group.
