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The female embryos, which were created when Vergara was
engaged to businessman Nick Loeb, are given the names Emma and
Isabella and listed as plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in
Louisiana state court on Wednesday.
"Emma and Isabella seek that they be entrusted to their natural
father Loeb, who is willing and desirous that they be born," the
lawsuit says.
Loeb and Vergara split up in 2014 after undergoing fertility
treatment that resulted in the creation of two embryos in 2013,
both female. Loeb has since been battling through the California
courts to have the embryos carried to term, and to take custody
of them.
Vergara, 44, has since married "Magic Mike" actor Joe
Manganiello. Her representatives did not return calls for
comment on Thursday but her attorney called the lawsuit a
publicity stunt that would fail.
"This latest maneuver is nothing more than another attempt on
the part of Mr. Loeb to keep himself in the public eye by
keeping himself linked to Ms. Vergara," attorney Fred Silberberg
said in a statement.
Silberberg said the Louisiana lawsuit came a week before a
California judge was expected to dismiss Loeb's bid to get
control of the embryos.
The Louisiana lawsuit is "one that we believe will also result
in failure," Silberberg said, adding, "that genetic material was
created pursuant to a written agreement that required both
parties' written consent to attempt to create a pregnancy."
Loeb is not listed as a plaintiff in the Louisiana lawsuit,
which was brought by a James Charbonnet, who was described as a
trustee of the Emma and Isabella Louisiana Trust. Charbonnet's
connection to Loeb or his interest in the case is unclear.
Vergara lives in California and the frozen embryos are kept in a
facility in the state, but the lawsuit claims that Louisiana has
jurisdiction in the case because it was the state where Loeb and
the Colombian-born actress ended their relationship.
Louisiana also has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in
the United States, according to the group Americans United for
Life.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Alan Crosby)
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