CHESTERFIELD — Dr. Sherman Silber said it was not his decision to shut down a pioneering infertility lab at St. Luke’s Hospital and ship thousands of frozen eggs and embryos to Texas.
“St. Luke’s did it and nobody understands their reasoning,†Silber said Friday after returning from a European conference where he spoke about ovary transplantation, a procedure he was first to perform. “All I know is we were doing extremely well, famous and busy, patients were happy and we were great P.R. for the hospital.â€
Some of Silber’s patients from St. Luke’s received letters this week saying the hospital “will no longer store frozen specimens. … Your specimens were recently relocated to ‘s Garland, TX Cryostorage center.†Others learned last fall from ReproTech that the company had received their eggs or embryos.
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In a statement Thursday to the Post-Dispatch, St. Luke’s spokeswoman Kelly Webb-Little said “Patients have been notified that, upon request, their specimens are available to be transferred to a fertility clinic of their choice.â€
Webb-Little did not respond Friday to further questions, including whether patients will have to pay for the transfers. While Catholic hospitals do not provide IVF therapies because the practice is considered “morally unacceptable†by the church, St. Luke’s is affiliated with the churches.
Silber said he was informed by St. Luke’s CEO Andrew Bagnall in May 2023 that the hospital planned to shut down its in vitro fertilization lab.
“What happened was simply that a new CEO came and he was charged by the board to help St. Luke’s declining fiscal situation,†Silber said. “Even though I’m the director I wasn’t given any authority at all.â€
Silber said his office sent “several thousand†letters to patients encouraging them to have their eggs and embryos shipped to the Infertility Center in Frontenac, which he opened in January.
“The lab in Texas is a registered lab, they’re a safe and proper lab. I don’t think their materials are in danger but I think it’s better off with us,†Silber said.
Patients said they were frustrated and scared by the situation after struggling with infertility and spending thousands of dollars in hopes of building a family. They were also upset to be kept in the dark about the transfers with no choice in where their embryos were sent, especially as IVF comes under fire in some Republican-led states.
The Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that embryos created through IVF are unborn children, even when kept frozen in a laboratory. Some IVF providers in the state suspended services after the ruling.
Silber said Missouri is “a very IVF friendly place with probably a greater concentration of IVF centers in ºüÀêÊÓƵ than other cities.â€
Under Missouri law, parents are the owners of their genetic material.
“IVF doctors feel very safe here,†said Silber, who will continue to perform intricate surgeries like ovary transplants at St. Luke’s but his IVF treatments at the Frontenac clinic.